The Art and Practice of Hawking is a manual on hawking, a feeding strategy in birds involving catching flying insects in the air. Also covered are the topics of how to look after and train a hunting bird.

The Art and Practice of Hawking is a manual on hawking, a feeding strategy in birds involving catching flying insects in the air. Also covered are the topics of how to look after and train a hunting bird.

This vintage book contains a comprehensive guide to the art of hawking, with information on training, game-hawking, equipment, care and management, nutrition, handling, history, and much more. Based on the author's thirty years hawking experience, this timeless manual contains everything a beginner might need to know on the subject, and will also include information of value to those with more experience. Contents include: "History and Literature", "The Birds Used in Hawking", "Furniture and Fittings", "Eyesses and Hack Hawks", "Passage Hawks", "Training and Entering", "Rook-Hawking", "Game-Hawking", "Lark-Hawking", "Gulls, Heron, Kite, Duck", "The Goshawk", et cetera. Many vintage texts such as this, especially those dating back to the 1900s and before, are increasingly hard to come by and expensive, and it is with this in mind that we are republishing this book now in an affordable, modern, high quality edition. It comes complete with a specially commissioned new introduction on falconry.

Excerpt from The Art and Practice of Hawking The object of the author has been to describe as briefly as was consistent with clearness the birds now chiefly used in the chase, and the manner of training and flying them. His hope is that some of the sportsmen who read these pages may, in spite of the difficulties which they will have to encounter, resolve to give this old and honourable sport a trial. The use of technical terms has been avoided as far as possible; and those which could not be excluded have been explained in the text. When the reader is puzzled by any word, a reference to the Index will direct him to the page where the meaning of it is given. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Thus begins the tale by Stephen Bodio, a lover of birds and nature, of the incredible connection between man and birds of prey. Falconry can be traced back over four thousand years and, as Bodio says, “it is amazing that the practice did not die out soon afterward when its first adherents starved.” With a new introduction by Helen MacDonald, A Rage For Falcons not only shares the history of falconry, but shows the personal side in a way only Bodio can share. With masterful prose and breathtaking imagery, you not only understand how falconry has lasted, but why. As Bodio so appropriately notes in his introduction: “To understand falconry, you must understand the nature of the relationship between man and bird.” In A Rage For Falcons, Bodio explores this incredible relationship and how it has affected him as a person. Never has such a personal touch been put on a sport that has lasted generations, which many people still do not have a grasp of. That’s what makes Bodio so great. While his words may not convince you to take up the sport, will certainly open your eyes to appreciate a world unlike any other.