Hawking with Golden Eagles paints a vivid picture of the eagle experience and takes the reader into the skies on a hunt for quarry. Based on practical field experience, this breakthrough book gives a full account of training and hunting procedures, and takes a close look at the quarries a golden eagle can currently be flown to. Full of breathtaking photographs and insightful description, the book is sure to be enjoyed by anyone wishing to explore the eagle's role within falconry throughout the centuries. My purpose in writing this small book is to try to give an insight into hawking with golden eagles. These raptors have frequently been described in less-than-glowing terms and their value as modern day falconry birds questioned. This book will attempt to paint a more positive picture. Naturally, when flown under unsuitable conditions and handled by inexperienced falconers, golden eagles will give a poor account of themselves. But, if trained and flown correctly, these eagles can be employed very effectively by the contemporary falconer and provide him with a unique hawking experience. My own understanding and appreciation of the golden eagle owes little to my early British falconry background. Far more influential have been my central European experiences. I have spent a good deal of time living and hawking on the Continent. There, my involvement with three large falconry center has resulted in me being presented with opportunities seldom afforded the private individual; and, with Germany or Austria serving as a base, I have traveled widely and hunted with golden eagles in many different parts of Europe. In writing this book, I have assumed that those interested in hawking with golden eagles will already have a background of experience with birds such as goshawks, Harris' hawks, or red-tailed hawks. Let me stress that a golden eagle is definitely no bird for a novice falconer. With this in mind, I deemed it unnecessary to cover very basic falconry topics in any detail. Comments on the more rudimentary aspect of the sport have been restricted to where I feel they are truly required. I have written very much with the practicing falconer in mind. However, I have also tried to produce a text that will be found readable and informative by those perhaps not directly involved in practical falconry, but who have an interest in some related topic. It is hoped that this book will be of value to anyone keen to discover just what these magnificent birds are capable of as trained hunting allies.

The Limited Edition is limited to 50 signed and numbered copies. Each is leather-bound and comes in a slipcase covered with bonded leather. The spine has five hubs (horizontal ridges beneath the leather to simulate the bundles of thread that, in medieval times, were used to sew signatures together). An eagle feather was hand-painted on the spine. An original watercolor painting of an eagle's head accompanies each copy (and is removable for framing). The pages are guilt-edged, and a medallion (of fine zinc plated with copper, then nickel, then gold) of an eagle in flight is embossed into the leather cover of the book. The medallion was sculpted by the noted artist, Mark Rossi, especially for the book. Because the painted feather and the painted eagle head (both by Dr. Ellis), are each unique, each copy is also unique.

Martin Hollinshead brings his wealth of experience and expertise to the topic of hunting mammalian quarry with Goshawks, Buteos, and Golden Eagles.

The Art and Practice of Hawking is a manual on hawking, a feeding strategy in birds involving catching flying insects in the air. Also covered are the topics of how to look after and train a hunting bird.

A falconer's account of a season spent squirrel hawking two red-tailed hawks in the foothills of Appalachia in central West Virginia.