The Goal of the Wise

...are seen, or because they cannot be done. Moreover, it will be recognized more easily from these things which can be done in the hunt that is performed with birds or with other quadrupeds. For [one] can keep dogs where they are raised and nurtured. But none, for the sake of the hunt that is done with birds, can be kept, nor can birds be made to fear or jump unless there is sexual intercourse and [the birds are] fed. For hawks and birds of this kind would be rendered inept by instinct or perhaps they would destroy [everything]. Furthermore, one can learn other hunts by seeing and hearing, even a child. But this one, neither without a teacher nor without frequent, skillful operation, can anyone—whether noble or common—learn. Furthermore, for the reason that many [people] and many nobles learn this art and diligently practice it, but few [people] of common birth [do so], it is proven by conjecture that this art is nobler than the others, as mentioned above. Therefore, it is clear that the art of hunting with birds is both an art and, compared to other hunts, nobler and more worthy, and for that reason, it is the first to be treated. About the remaining hunts, especially those in which nobles delight while living, after the completion of this work, it shall be decided by us.

However, let us first come to the division of birds: generally and [discussing] a few things that are, for these [birds], namely their causes and what is necessary to return them, [which] are better; for example: first concerning the herons remaining [in one place] and concerning [all] birds with persistence, just as it happens, all birds will come [to be classified by] all their divisions for common causes, [such as those] pertaining to the acquisition of birds or the changing of places due to heat and the cold of the seasons, summer, and leisure and injuries. The divisions will be recognized. The general divisions, however, [will be] those that are made and [pertain] to acquisition, or the difference between aquatic [birds] and those [birds] deprived [of water], and the movement they make to certain places, remote from some water, because of the heat and cold of the seasons. Their reproduction. The difference in the structure of the limbs in them. The nature of the feathers. And the manner of fighting. And the dissent they have. And the changing of plumage. We do not speak here of these same things except figuratively and [in terms of] what is useful for our purpose, namely, that the artist who practices hunting with birds may know, through the recognition of these things generally, where, by whom, and how birds are captured better.