The Baz-nama-yi Nasiri

Part 2 — CHAPTER XVIII THE PEREGRINE (BAḤRĪ)

D. C. (Douglas Craven) Phillott translation

Baḥrī.—I have already stated my opinion that the Peregrine is merely the Rūmalī Shāhīn caught after it has left the nest.

At any rate the best variety of peregrine is the yellowish, almond[189]-coloured, variety.

I have trained peregrines[190] to gazelle. They are, however, delicate[191] birds, as well as bold and daring: they dash themselves impetuously against the gazelle’s horns and thus frequently injure themselves fatally. This is the reason that falconers do not care to train them to gazelle. Further, on account of the flightiness[192] of their disposition they are not so very highly prized. When choosing a peregrine, select one with large feet, short legs, and long slender wings. Count the scales on the middle toe. Ordinarily there are only seventeen or eighteen.[193] If you find a bird with twenty-one, you have a treasure. A good peregrine should have a fine full breast, a broad back, and toes that are long and lean; and its body should be round and compact. An old master has not without reason sung:—

If I could have my fancy free, Goshawks like wagtails[194] all should be, And Sparrow-hawks like Goshawks all; But Shāhīns round and Charg͟hs tall.[195] Should Baḥrīs too from faults be free, In truth broad-shouldered they must be.

FOOTNOTES:

Notes in this chapter

Note 1 · i.e., the colour of the skin of an almond. The yellow variety of peregrine is avoided by Panjab falconers.Note 2 · The only Englishman who attempted gazelle hawking in India was the late Sir Harry Lumsden who raised the Corps of Guides. He told the transl Note 3 · Delicate compared to the saker, the falcon most prized by Orientals. In Baghdad (in 1900-01) the price of a peregrine had risen from three t Note 4 · Hence the epithet yäwā applied to it and to the shahin, in the Kapurthala State.Note 5 · That is there are, in the female peregrine, seventeen or eighteen large scutæ (pūlak) that extend across the whole breadth of the toe. These Note 6 · Ṣaʿwa. I believe this is properly a wagtail, but the term is by some Turks also applied to a species of sparrow. Miyān Mahmūd Sāhibzāda, of Note 7 · Many Panjab falconers assert that long charg͟hs are faster and stoop in better style. They are certainly not inferior to the shorter birds.