Falconry

This guide to falconry dates to mid-19th century Britain, and explains both the history and practical elements of using birds of prey to hunt wild animals.

The practice of raising and training intelligent birds of prey to hunt animals was popular in Europe from the Middle Ages onward. Over the centuries, techniques and practices were refined, with the peculiarities of the various birds used – be they peregrine falcons, goshawks, sparrow-hawks or otherwise – investigated by generations of enthusiasts. This history is detailed and supplemented with the author’s own practical experience and advice.

Gage Earle Freeman was a clergyman who spent some years assigned to India. As a lifelong enthusiast of falconry, Freeman was impressed to behold the practice in India; a culture where hunting with birds of prey had been a tradition for millennia. As an experienced falconer, Freeman was able to put the skills he’d honed on Buxton Moor in England to use in India –his talents met appreciation, and he received birds as a gift from the local population.

The final supplement to this book is entitled ‘Fishing with Cormorants’, and comprises a short but insightful guide to training the cormorant bird to dive for fish.