Evening star., 1943-01-15

Jacola, Az pound falcon, is free
again to prey on starlings. And it
is all due to the ban on pleasure
driving.
How she was captured early in
November, 1912, by local falconers
and released from captivity because
her owner no longer could drive out
to the country, was revealed today
by William (BilD Turner, $3.50
Thirty-third street NV.
With her falconry regalia removed,
Jacola took off from the roof of The
Star Building shortly before o'clock
last night. She headed east, picked
up speed as she circled couple Of
times in the vicinity of Seventh
street, dived at group of starlings
unsuccessfully, and then flew to the
Post Office tower.
Maybe Jacola didn't try hard to
get startling; she had just eaten
on The Star roof before she sailed
majestically to freedom.
Spotted With Binoculars.
Jacola is believed by Mr.. Turner
to be the same falcon which lived in
the Post Office tower five years ago.
But let Mr.. Turner tell his own
story, from 1898 to date:
while rummaging through some
old manuscript on the duck hawk.
noticed an account by some nat
uralist relating that on the old Post
Office tower at Eleventh street and
Pennsylvania avenue there lived Dne
of the rarest and widest birds of
prey in the world.
Having had some past experience
with these birds and knowing some
thing of their habits, I thought it
perfectly possible that in this year
of 1888, barring accident, the bird
would still be there. On close ex-
animation with pair of binoculars.
on frosty morning, found her
perched on the northwest corner of
the tower ledge, busily engaged in
eating the last remnants of a
startling, which is a natural food and
abounds all along Pennsylvania
avenue.
Il found by constant watching
that this bird left to nest in the
spring and returned to the tower
in the fall to spend the winter.
During the winter months she was
often observed plummeting like
lightning from the towers top and,
with unerring aim, pick up a
startled starting a few feet above
the heads of the parade of home
Ward-bound pedestrians. Then, with
effortless strokes she would carry
her burden back to the tower ledge
to eat peacefully, while watching the
human ants crawling from street
to street.
Many Traps Fail.
For three fruitless years I used
every trapping device known to
falconry, that could be used in the
middle of a busy city, to catch this
falcon. Finally, in the early part
Of November, 1912, I stumbled on
trapping method that seemed to
meet all the requirements. So, early
one morning, with another falconer
to help me, and with the memory
of countless failures paramount in
our minds, we none too hopefully
set the trap that proved the un-
doing of the old patriarch of the
Post Office tower.
Immediately on capture she was
hooded and all the falconry regalia,
including jesses, swivel, bells and
lease, we're placed on her. She
proved an adept pupil at the art of
falconry and in two weeks to the
day after her capture, she was flown
free
"Since that day she has given us
many enjoyable afternoons. Being
naturally great flyer and possess
ing the intelligence to learn quick
ly, she presented us with a flying
prowess that well repaid all the
routine and disappointment that
characterizes the training of a
falcon.
Flew High in Sky.
'She mounted up and up until
she was mere speck in the sky,
often going out of sight to be visible
only through powerful binoculars.
Then, at the command of the fall
coner, she would dive earthward at
a pace above 200 miles per hour to
strike her prey lifeless with one
blow of her powerful talons. And
so, that was the colorful life OF
Jacola, one of the largest and most
beautiful peregrine falcons it has
ever been my pleasure to own.
"Then one recent morning ]
picked up the paper>to read the
fateful news-no more pleasure driv-
ing! This, then, would be the end
of falconry for me for the duration
For a falcon must be flown in open
fields which can only be reached by
automobile.
II decided then and there to give
Jacola back to the post Office tower
removed all of her falconry equip
ment, replacing it with a United
States Fish and Wildlife Service
bird ban, and took the bus to The
Star Building, from the top of which
she was liberated again to enjoy the
bountiful table of Pennsylvania ave-
| nue..
Uc~ a. ,,>,, sA> . AoeIa{oo fAa%h.