Page 142 - Arabian Studies (II)

134 Arabian Studies II
BLOCK n. wikar (plur. awkdr
The hawk’s perch shaped like a drawing pin with an
elongated pin, the whole being made of wood, the
top (raha) padded with leather and the spike (slkh)
tipped with metal. The hawk is kept tied to the
block, when not on the fist and not in the moulting
box. See Plate 4.
BUSTARD See HOUBARA.
CAST v.i .yirobij\ n. robajah
Throwing up by the hawk of the indigestible parts of its
food. The morning after a meal, in which the hawk
has swallowed a quantity of bone, fur or feather, it
will spit out a smooth ‘casting’, a pellet which, as long
as the hawk is healthy, is of an even crumbly
consistency. Providing the hawk with a diet con­
taining material for casting is essential to its health.
Particles of food in the casting may indicate that the
bird is unwell, e.g. suffering from a crop infection.
COURSER, CREAM durraj
COLOURED A bird sometimes hunted by the hawk,
CREANCE n. khayt, sabab
The long line on which the hawk is called during
training.
CURLEW, STONE kayr(a)wan, karwan
Bird hunted by the hawk. See Quarry.
DECOY barak
The tame hawk used as a decoy to catch a wild
hawk.
See Trapping above.
ENSEAM v.t. yiligun
To purge the hawk of excess fat by means of a physic
(shabbah, sal ammoniac?) or small dose of sugar,
especially after the moult (s.v.). See GLEAM below.
EYASS A hawk taken for training from the nest. There appears
to be no precise technical term for the eyass in
present-day Arabic, though since the size of the
individual bird is conditioned by its treatment in the
nest, the various sizes of the trapped saker (s.v.) may
be named here. The following are the sizes trained,
apart from the kamil: nu§§, rubc, thulth. Those
rejected in descending order of size are: lazTz,
tibac/tabic, mahgurah.
GAZELLE The word dabi (class, zaby) is the generic term. The four
common species recognised by the bedouin of the
Peninsula are:
rim - very white — found in Nufud and the Empty
Quarter; 7/rf — brown and black — Najd;