In message <[log in to unmask]>,
Cheyenne Loon <[log in to unmask]> writes

>[snip]
>> describes Central Asian pygmies hunting fox and hare "not with
>>hounds, but with crows, kites, rooks and eagles".

>There are (were?) pygmies in Central Asia??

It was said that there were.  And bearing in mind that most
ancient peoples were apparently appreciably shorter than
modern men, then one must have been quite small to have
been counted as a 'pygmy'.  I would assume that the reference
is in Aelian's "On the Characteristics of Animals".

http://www.firstscience.com/site/articles/dobney.asp

"Of particular significance are the comments of Aelian
(circa. AD 220), supposedly quoting 'Ctesias the
Cnydian.' Ctesias was court doctor to the Persian
King Artexeises II (Mnemnon) in the early fifth
century BC. His early treatise on falconry describes
the country and customs of the 'pygmies', a mysterious
people inhabiting some part of Central Asia. He
states that "they hunt hares and foxes with crows,
yellow-breasted marten cats and with cornices and
eagles." (Other translations suggest crows, kites,
rooks and eagles were used)."