Chapter 30: Autumn Flowers and Day Pines

Today was not primarily about working, but rather an opportunity to take the boys out for falconry and teach them the technical details of handling young hawks.

Yue Feng knew deep down that one could never truly master the craft through words alone without hands-on practice. Since they were out in the mountains and an opportunity arose, he let the three of them take turns in real combat to familiarize themselves with the various handling techniques.

There is a certain element of natural talent involved in this trade. Although Xiao Tao had started practicing falconry earlier than Xiao Wen and Xiao Wu, his performance was not as good as the two brothers from the Zhang family.

Xiao Wu, in particular, showed great composure during his first real combat session. Had they not grown up in the same village and known each other's backgrounds since childhood, Yue Feng might have mistaken him for a seasoned falconer.

The strength of the Great Green Sparrowhawk was undeniable. Even though these novices were somewhat lacking in skill, after wandering through Erjiazi Gully, the group hadn't missed a single strike.

The only difference was how long it took for the hawk to secure the prey after the chase.

Those who knew how to stay close to the prey and strike at the right moment could pin a chicken to the ground within ten meters. Those who were stiff and nervous, unable to find the right opening, might see their hawk chase for dozens of meters.

The hawks were already well-trained, and the terrain was familiar; as long as no major accidents occurred, they generally wouldn't lose a bird.

The group of four wandered along the ridges from around 8:30 AM until past 10:00 AM, catching four "Flying Dragons" (hawks).

Descending from the southern slope, the group arrived at the location of the Qilong nets.

The results from the Qilong nets were decent, though they hadn't caught the specific species Yue Feng was targeting.

Of the three nets, one remained undisturbed and untriggered.

Of the other two, one had caught a small owl, and the other had caught a young "Green Bean Eye" Autumn Flower Pine (a sub-adult male Eurasian Sparrowhawk that had only recently fledged).

Aside from being cute, the little owl had no value for training, and its meat wasn't edible, so Yue Feng released it on the spot.

However, Yue Feng was in no hurry to release the second little Pine.

In the pine forests of the Changbai Mountains, Eurasian Sparrowhawks breed.

This kind of little Pine, which had only been out of the nest for a few months, represented the lowest entry barrier for training young hawks. The little fellow weighed less than two taels, not much larger than a shrike.

Yue Feng held the hawk in his hand and examined it closely. The little hawk had a head shaped like an abacus bead and bright, tender green bean eyes; it was the type that fledged late and possessed an exceptionally mild temperament among its kind.

If Yue Feng were to work it seriously—setting nets in the morning, combining training with market runs during the day, handling it again in the evening, and doing a bit more training before dawn the next day—by the time it was fully grown, it could be flown to hunt sparrows in the fields.

However, due to their small size, these young hawks could only catch limited prey, and they are sensitive to the cold; they couldn't be flown once the temperature dropped significantly.

Therefore, people generally didn't train them in the autumn. Instead, around the May Day period in spring, they would catch young Pines that had returned from migration but hadn't finished molting, using them to catch sparrows that fledged in May or June.

If one was lucky enough to find a "Persimmon Eye" Pine that had already finished its sub-adult molt (referring to a hawk that had shed all its juvenile feathers after a winter, possessing superior constitution and hunting skills), one could spend a day wandering around the village flying it and catch twenty or thirty sparrows.

In the past, falconers who kept "Large Hawks" (Grown hawks from the previous autumn kept in separate aviaries to molt under human care) would tie up little Pines in the spring to hunt birds to feed the Large Hawks.

Large Hawks that ate live prey daily during their molt developed faster feather growth and better constitutions. By the time they were released in the autumn, they were physically robust and possessed strong hunting instincts, making their combat performance far superior to a "Yellow Hawk" that had just come down from the mountains.

Of course, if a Large Hawk had performed mediocrely during the previous hunting season, most falconers wouldn't bother the effort of caging it; they would simply wait for spring to arrive, let the hawk spend some time in a state where it lost its fear of humans, and then release it back into nature.

Nowadays, raptor resources are relatively abundant, and it is not uncommon to find Large Hawks trained to catch rabbits or wild chickens, but top-tier specimens like the Great Green Sparrowhawk are rare and hard to come by.

Anyway, back to the main topic.

Immediately after taking the little Autumn Flower off the net, Yue Feng pulled a coil of cotton string from his pocket.

Since he hadn't prepared the specialized leather jesses for tying a little Pine, he folded several strands of cotton string together to make them strong and tied a temporary knot to secure the little hawk.

Since he had nothing else to do, and since the little hawk had fallen into his net, it felt like a stroke of fate. He might as well handle it and enjoy its company; if it were brave and had a good temperament, he could fly it near his doorstep to catch some sparrows to feed his other hawks—a win-win situation.

Seeing Yue Feng skillfully remove the tiny hawk from the net and tie its legs, Xiao Tao asked curiously, "Brother, why are you tying up this little grasshopper hawk? Can it even be trained?"

Yue Feng grinned. "Just for fun! Don't let its size fool you; it can catch sparrows! This is a nestling that just fledged; with a bit of handling, it should be ready to fly in no time!"

As he spoke, Yue Feng pinched the newly tied cotton jesses between his thumb and forefinger and opened his palm.

The little hawk shakily rose from its huddled, nest-like position. It didn't struggle to fly; instead, like a socially anxious young boy, it tucked its neck and observed the several burly men nearby.

Yue Feng deliberately rotated his wrist halfway in a smooth motion. The little hawk stepped forward with its legs and, surprisingly, managed to stand steadily on Yue Feng's hand.

Yue Feng knew nestlings could be bold, but he had never seen one this brave. It had been less than ten minutes since it was caught in the net, yet it already dared to stand on a hand. An ordinary newly-caught hawk would be terrified to death; if you didn't handle it immediately after tying it, there was a 99% chance it would "hang itself" from stress.

Based on this alone, Yue Feng was certain this little fellow could be flown within a day at most.

"Hehe, not bad! This little guy dares to stand on a hand right after being caught! Fine, I have some free time these next two days, I'll work with it!"

The more Yue Feng looked at the little Pine, the more he liked it. After letting it stand on his hand for a short while, he quickly brought it back to rest in his palm.

Having settled the hawk, Yue Feng re-hung the Qilong nets. The group wandered once more through the bushes outside the riverside woods, catching two partridges.

As noon approached, the four of them went back to check the nets one last time. Perhaps because people had been active near the woods, none of the three nets had yielded anything.

Yue Feng had told his family earlier that they would eat lunch at home. Seeing that it was almost mealtime, Yue Feng waved his hand and suggested they head back to eat.

For lunch, his mother, Meng Yulan, had prepared quite a hearty meal. Following the partridges they had just brought back, she had prepared a stew of partridge, mushrooms, and potatoes, along with a Flying Dragon soup. On the table, there were also cans of luncheon meat and yellow croaker, along with fried peanuts and pork stir-fried with onions.

It was a simple spread of six dishes. While not considered high-end, in an era of scarce resources, this was a high-standard feast.

(End of Chapter)