FALCONRY BASICS: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CARE, MAINTENANCE AND TRAINING OF BIRDS OF PREY. By Tony Hall. Revised and updated by Michael K. Nicholls.

(2003) 2019 revised 2nd edition. 4to (192 x 252mm). Ppxx,268. B/w illustrations, bibliography. Pictorial laminated boards, issued without a dust-wrapper.

This is a new, revised and updated edition of this well thought of book. One of the best introductory guides, covering all aspects of acquiring, training, handling and hunting diurnal birds of prey. Detailed information on the current state of the law concerning field sports, birds wild and captive, CITES, and much else besides. Contents of this second edition include: Preface to the new edition; Getting started - before you start, falconry and the law, hawks hawking and falconry, first hawk; Preparing for your first hawk - hawk accomodation and furniture, hawk furniture, training equipment, hawk food, buying and handling a hawk; Training and flying - weight and condition, first stops, up to free flight, flying free, other considerations; Hawking for quarry - vital homework, entering and basic hunting, hawking competitions, dogs and ferrets, notes on quarry; Maintaining your hawk - illness and injury, beaks and talons, feathers, moulting and repair; Reference - a hawk's anatomy, IAF guidelines for the General Welfare of Raptors, a falconry glossary, checklist of equipment, further reading, useful contacts.