The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-03-26
FALCONRY IN ARKANSAS.
SPORT OF HUNTING oUALLS WITH
Blue D1RTERS.

FRosTvILLE. Ark, March 23.-Jack Insley
come to this part OF the country ten years ago
with q capital OF $4,000 and q passion for field
sports. He said that a man couldn't do any
thing with S. 900 In New York, except buy two
theatre tickets and a bottle OF wine: also that
all the Igame worth foolinG with had been
killed or run out OF the State twenty years be-
fore. lin Arkansas $4,000 represented a big
start In life and there was all the game that
even n mar OF his liberal tastes wanted to snare
or shoot. He opened a little country store at
this place and began selling to the negroes. 1t
goes without saying that any man who sells to
negroes xpects to realize a profit Of so per cent.
The merchant Is forced to wait for his money
untilthe cotton crop has been gathered and then
he runs the risk that his debtor will sneak II to
town and sell It, subsequently spending the
proceeds on rum. lightning rods. cast-iron sew
ing machines, white-pine pianos and anything
else he may happen to want and does not need.
So the prices In on Arkansas country store are
high. Insley made an excellent living and even
saved some money. Best Of all he had plenty
OF time for shooting and fishing. He shot 40
much. in fact. that he became tired OF 1t. LONG
days with the woodcock. snipe or quails failed
to interest him. He said that there was no more
fun in butchering fifty birds In a day with a
shotgun which turned loose seven or eight
hundred pellets at them from each barrel.
Moreover. IL was unfair to the bird.
The only thing for a sportsman to do" said
1nsley. lie to put himself as nearly as possible
on an equality with the game. Then. II he
captures It, he has something upon which he Is
at liberty to plume himself. This thing OF TAX
Ing a shotgun and a horse and buggy and two
highly sensitized dogs. and putting them all in
league against one poor flyer that has nothing
except a pair Of wings with which to defend
itself lie barbarous." 30 he gave his 5000
Greener to his brother and sold his pointers
to his frienus and abandoned the chase for a
year. Then he turned himself to falconry.
There are eighteen differing hawks in south
ern Arkansas. and Insley tried them all. He
began with the ordinary chicken hawk. a large
gray bird which has great certainty Of vision
and stoop. but lacks activity lis gluttonous. and
will not work unless starved. He found tito be
unkindly. almost untamable. and. though he
taught 1t to return to hand at the whistle. he
never had any success with It, He practiced It at
first on trapped blackbirds. releasing one Mt a
time. 1t succeeded In catching one finally.
flew to the limb OF a dead tree, leisurely de-
voured its prey. and. it's appetite being tempo
rarily satisfied. spread its wings and sailed
away. never to return. He had no better success
with the red-breasted hawk. which is swifter
but moro untamable: or with the black hawk.
which Is too much like the eagle to be ~ any
service save az an ornament In a mans front
hall: or with the field hawk. which is smaller
than the black hawk. but has an unconquer-
able longing for mice or with the duck hawk.
which pays attention to nothing save wild
fowl: or with the rabbit hawk. a flyer OF a pale
brown hue. exceedingly active on the wing.
and up to all the darts and twists that its
quarry NAV make. but savage and unintelli-
gent; or with the swooper. a medium sized
bird that is saffron under the wings and black
and white on the breast. and devotes itself TO
the determination ofsmall grass birds. He even
tried the sparrow hawk which. although OF tho
true falcon build. ferocity and instinct, Ia too
small to be Of avail against an ything worth
having. 1nsley put In four years experiment
Ing with these various flyers. Some OF them
are OF the eagle variety. some are more or loss
altered kestrels and some are kites. but they
all have a defect. which makes them OF no
avail to the %falcone-. He used to buy the
young birds from the negroes. who secured all
the woods Of Lafayette county in search ~
nests. Many OF the young died in cages. but
he learned in time how thew should be kept.
what proportion Of liberty should be allowed
them and how to mako them and keep them
clean. He came to be n reasonably expert fall
coner long before he had a falcon.
Then one day Eph Henderson. an old negro
who lives by fishing and trapping otters.
brought him two birds which he said would
catch qunils II they had n chance. They were
not more than six weeks old ana so undevel-
oped that it was difficult to class them. As
they grew older and their rlumage cam out
1t was seen that they belonged to the variety
known here as the blue darter. Insley had
seen them occasionally. OF course. in his rides
through the fields. but he had never owned
one. for the reason that their nests are built
only In the widest. most undiscoverable places.
The female matches only two young at q sit
ting and sits only once a year. and tho bird is
therefore the rarest of all Southern hawks.
The birds also are most difficult to approach,
and to kill one OF them Is a rare occurrence.
Blue darters are known also as quail hawks
from their habit OF refusing all other food II
they can get ouails. Their pursuit OF the bevies
is incessant. and quail hunters always kill
them IL they get the chance. They are to be
shot as a gene raj thing only with a rife. 1t Is
almost impossible to stalk them closely enough
TO hurt them with n shotgun. Whenever in
riding abroad the hunter finds a bevy Of quails
that has been scattered. three OF its members
in one place. five in another and SO on. he
knows that the blue darter has been at work.
II he will stop a little while and use his eyes
he will see the destroyer. perched upon the
limb OF a tree a hundred yards away. or else
sailing slowly round and round 800 feet above
him. and waiting for one OF the hidden qunils
to stir.
This hawk is a true falcon. 1t is beautifully
shaped. slender yet powerful. with a great ex-
panse OF sharp-elbowed wing. a small fierce
head set on a massive neck. a hooked beak OF
great power and a round golden eye that In
moments OF anger or other excitement be-
comes almost black. The birds legs are red
dish and its talons as sharp as needles. Its
back. breast and tail are OF a pale slate blue.
Under the wings 1t has white markings. 1t Ia
highly Intelligent and Insley has proved that
1t Is readily domesticated He has possibly
the only pair Of blue darters ever held In cap
tivity.
II Ia the eye Of this hawk. next to its phenom-
email speed which makes It so fatal TO its chosen
quarry, This organ is capable OF wonderful
expansion or contraction. There is no way OF
ascertaininG Just what its range OF vision Is.
but it must be practically lImitless. 1t is a we'll
known fact that the human eye is almost al
WAYS incompetent to distinguish a crouchinR
quail from the surrounding cover. Many sports
men. when their dogs were pointing. have put
in minutes irving to see the birds before thav