. [Articles about birds from National geographic magazine]. Birds. 110 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE. FIERCE YELLOW EYES GLARE AT HUMAN INTRUDERS The young Cooper's hawks, a male (left) with his somewhat larger sister, have just left the nest, though their tail feathers are not yet half grown. These birds often fly for some time before they are fully feathered, and seem to develop more strength than do many other species at the same age. The two shown challeng- ing the camera were caught and trained by the Craighead boys. male"—bigger, stronger, more spirited, and hence far better adap
. [Articles about birds from National geographic magazine]. Birds. 110 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE. FIERCE YELLOW EYES GLARE AT HUMAN INTRUDERS The young Cooper's hawks, a male (left) with his somewhat larger sister, have just left the nest, though their tail feathers are not yet half grown. These birds often fly for some time before they are fully feathered, and seem to develop more strength than do many other species at the same age. The two shown challeng- ing the camera were caught and trained by the Craighead boys. male"—bigger, stronger, more spirited, and hence far better adapted for use in falconry. Comfortably established in a cloth-cano- pied basket, first under the stove and later in the cellar, our two little hawks devoted themselves to the business of eating and growing feathers. By the time they began to jump up on the edge of the basket and act restless, we knew they were almost ready to train. It is important not to begin training too soon, however. The first step is teaching the bird to come to the hand for food, and it is necessary that the hawk be hungry— not starved, of course, but pos- sessed of a good, healthy appetite. If training is started before the feathers are all grown out, "hun- ger streaks" will appear in the plumage and the bird's flying abil- ity will be im- paired. Our hawks were well fed on beef and liver, with finely ground greenbone to keep them from getting rickets, and an occasional mouse, starling, or sparrow. TRAINER MUST AVOID SCARING THE BIRDS About three weeks after we had brought our birds home we were able to be- gin their actual training. The first step was to fasten to the legs the leather straps, about six inches long, called jesses; to these a leash was a t - t a c h e d (page 114). It is im- portant not to scare the hawks by any abrupt movement, as they may become chronically timid and nervous. We spent more time training those first hawks than we gave to half a dozen later ones. We carried t
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