When a feather is bent, without any actual breakage of the shaft, it will come straight if dipped in very hot water, but may not improbably remain weak for some time at the place where the bend was. Very often such a bent feather will come straight when the hawk bathes; but it is just as well to apply the hot-water remedy at once, and if it does not return to its proper position, there will be little doubt that the shaft is damaged. Whenever this is the case, the broken part should be cut neatly off and the feather imped. When the breakage is not near the end, and consequently in a very thin part of the shaft, the piece removed can be put on again by imping. But if it is the tip which has gone, as is only too often the case with beginners, the owner must make up his mind either to keep and fly his hawk in that damaged condition, incurring the jibes or pity of facetious or sympathetic friends, or to undertake the rather delicate operation required for grafting a fresh feather on the remnant of the old one. Possibly the novice may be within reach of a professional falconer, or an experienced amateur, who will come to his rescue, and perform this troublesome job. If so, he should certainly attend while it is being accomplished, and carefully note the manner in which the professor sets about it. If not, he must attempt it himself, and do the best he can by the aid of his own ingenuity, and perhaps of the following directions:-- Hood the hawk, and have an operating-table ready, on which you have placed a tolerably stout but soft cushion. Get an assistant to take firm hold of the patient with both hands round the body, over which may be previously thrown a silk handkerchief to preserve the feathers. The assistant should place his hands over the hawk's body with the palms downwards and the thumbs joined, the tips of his fingers being towards the hawk's tail, and the wrists over her hood. Lowering them quickly and gently, and bringing the outer parts of the hands towards one another, he will get a firm grip round the upper part of the wings and the thickest part of the body, and will hold the hawk down firmly, but without unduly squeezing her, upon the cushion, her feet being pressed down underneath the body. The falconer will thus be free to operate more boldly upon the feather to which he proposes to direct his attention. The latter must have provided himself beforehand with a very sharp penknife, a small saucer of vinegar or strong brine, an imping-needle of the proper size, and a feather of the proper sort. The imping-needle should be of iron or steel, filed down lengthwise to a triangular shape and pointed at the ends. It should be in the middle about two-thirds as thick as the feather at the place of breakage. The new feather with which the damaged hawk is to be adorned must exactly match the one which it is to replace; that is to say, it must have occupied the same place in the same wing, or the same side of the tail,