HINTS ON THE MANAGEMENT OF HAWKS and PRACTICAL FALCONRY. By James Edmund Harting.

(1884) 2002 3rd Beech printing. 8vo (144 x 222mm). Ppx,274. B/w illustrations and photographs. Grey cloth, titles to printed paper spine-label. An inexpensive edition, not of the best quality.

"This is a classic on managing hawks and on the practice of falconry. It examines in detail the requirements for success in the sport. James Edmund Harting was a renowned ornithologist who made a special study of falconry. Out of print for many years, the book is now offered again because of the frequent requests we have received for its re-issue". The publishers. Harting himself said much the same thing, "In acceding to a demand for a second edition of these 'Hints,' the author has not merely revised the original text, but has made considerable additions to it, as well as to the illustrations. The reader is thereby carried further afield, and the descriptions which have been added, in the second part of the book, of flights at Rook, Lark, Partridge, Grouse, Woodcock, Snipe, Hare, and Rabbit, are but the natural sequel and practical outcome of attention to the 'Hints' for training and management contained in the first part. From an historical point of view, the chapters on Kite-hawking and Heron-hawking - no longer practicable in England - and on trained Eagles employed by Eastern falconers, will give an insight into little known phases of the sport. The chapters which deal with 'Devices for taking Hawks,' and the 'Law relating to Trained Hawks,' will, it is hoped, have a practical value in the eyes of those who may seek for information on these subjects". This edition is printed on both glazed and unglazed sheets: which paper a particular page might be printed on seems completely arbitrary. Despite the eccentricity of its manufacture, this is a solidly constructed and not unpleasing volume.