tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post8558070440001877906..comments2023-10-26T03:19:41.569-07:00Comments on Stephen Bodio's Querencia: Tom McGuane on RaptorsSteve Bodiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434597061701369867noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-58163254551080438902016-01-23T22:37:53.145-08:002016-01-23T22:37:53.145-08:00Re passage hawks, I have always loved this paragra...Re passage hawks, I have always loved this paragraph from Gilbert Blaine's "Falconry," in which he describes newly trapped passage (haggard actually) falcons:<br /><br />"Sitting nervous and upright on the pole in [the] hawk-house... you were at once struck at the difference between them and eyasses. The erect carriage, the flat back with a depression between the shoulders, the trim, crisp plumage, bleached by sun and wind, with a powdery bloom upon it, the clear yellow of the cere and feet, the perfect symmetry of the contour, all denote a quality that is lacking in the eyass. Here is the perfection of health and condition. Take one on your hand and remove her hood. What a brilliant eye and noble expression! There is wildness, shyness, but no guile. Hood her and put her back at once; you do not wish to cause her any distress. You will never again see this hawk looking so splendid and so beautiful. It is all soon lost in captivity. But even after years of confinement, the experienced eye will detect the difference between the passage hawk and the eyass."<br /><br />D<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com