Evening star., 1934-03-31
EAGLES TRAINED
T0CAPTURE GAME
Lecture on FaIConry Deliv.
cred Before National
Geographic Society.

Falconry one of the worlds oldest
sports. can be pursued with eagles,
and the big birds add new thrills to
a game that has been favored by
kings of Europe and Asia for CEN
turieS. Capt C. w R. Knight, noted
English photographer and authority
on birds of prey. told the National
Geographic Society during his lecture
on Monarch Of the Air" in Constitu-
ton Hall last night
With motion pictures Capt. Knight
revealed how he trained an American
Bald Eagle and a Golden Eagle of
Scotland to hunt small game together
and to return to his gloved hand at
his command. Action shots showed
the graceful birds swooping down
upon hares and game birds. making
a clean kill in the falcon fashion.
Old Scene Re-enacted.
Two novelties were introduced in
the motion pictures that accompanied
the lecture. One portion of the film
depicted a typical falcon hunt as such
an event was conducted during the
reign of Henry VIII Actors and
dClltSSCS III 1OSluIIlt- 1OllONCo Dy
tainerS carrying wooden racks filled
with hooded birds, passed through a
Kent village that has changed little
since the twelfth century, and when
the open countryside was reached the
falcons were released. Several par
tridges. hares and other small game
were taken.
The other novelty was burleSque
on "action-thriller" movies. Capt.
knights family and neighbors in
Kent served as the cast in a film in
which a young girl is captured by an
eagle and carried to its eyrie high on
a cliff Capt. knight revealed how
the effects were achieved by the use
of dummies. and also how tame the
"eagle villains" were in actual life.
One of the most interesting and
unusual of the lecturers films was
that of the nesting place of the rare
English Marsh Hawk. In successive
stages the picture revealed the hatch
ing of the eggs, the rearing of the
young birds and their developing plu-
mage and ability to shift for them
selves. One Stunted chick afforded
much amusement in its efforts to get
enough to eat The marsh hawk has
peculiar habit of passing food from
the talonS Of the male bird to the
talons Of the female while both are
flying in mid air. This difficult feat
was shown in the films.
Close-Up of Gannet Shown.
On a voyage to the rocky islands
north of Scotland Capt, knight sue
Ceeded in obtaining a closeup of the
Gannet a bird which makes its nest
in the crevices and along the ledges
of perpendicular 600-fOOt cliffs. The
speaker said he was particularly
anxious to get good picture of this
bird for the Geological Society of
Scotland, which had adopted it as its
emblem. BY the use OF ropes and
canvas shelters Capt. Knight also
studied at close range the Kittiwake.
which is the gliding champion of the
bird world.
Other films and colored slides
showed falcons in their native haunts,
and the method used to capture the
young and train them for falconry.
The hood slipped over the birds head,
the speaker declared. really does the
bird no harm. The falcon is a highly
strung bird, and it will not even sit
still unless it is hooded. Once the
hood is taken of it makes straight
for its quarry, he said.
At the close OF his lecture Capt.
Knight brought or to the stage Mr..
Ramshaw'-his pet Scottish Golden
Eagle. Pulling a piece of meat C'the
toughest he could find in Washing
ton" he called lD from his pocket, he
induced the bird to fly across the
stage and alight on his glove hand.
Then he placed the piece of meat on
the floor, shouted a word of command
to the eagle, and the handsome bird
struck an attitude of attention, with
wings outstretched and head erect.
like those often seen on official seals
of currency.