lio(}. to-uhoo-lioo"! that souiuk-d like a muftk-d roll of llmiKkr startled the furry 

 folk, antl aj^'ain sent them scampering to i)laces of safety. But one poor unfor- 

 tunate little mouse, prohahly a bit holder than the rest, ventured too far from its 

 place of safety, and before it had time to escape, the sharj) claws of "< )!,| 

 Head Hunter"' had sunk into its back; with a squeak of terror the moi 

 borne in triumi)h to the ilead oak limb, where the great horned owl, fur .-^ucii 

 "Old Head Hunter"' was, began to devour his victim. With his powerful beak 

 he ripped the head from the body, which he cast to the ground. Another rip and 

 he laid bare the brains, which he guljjcd down with evident relish. 



"Olil Head Hunter," unlike the rest of his tribe, was not content with 

 dt\ci:rirg his victims, but only delighted in eating their brains, so that he 

 always kept up a relentless attack upon quail, grouse, snipe, rats, .squirrels, mice, 

 chickens, turkeys, in short about evcryting he could kill. His nightly toll was 

 between ten and twenty victims, and the neighboring villages, unwilling to tamely 

 submit to his maraudings upon their poultry coops, offered rewards for his body. 

 But "Old Head Hunter" was too wary for all them and invariably eluded their 

 most cunning schemes to capture or to kill him. 



In another i)art of the forest all. was serene and calm. .\ break among 

 the stately trees permitted a flood of rich yellow light to silver tlie ground. In 

 this spot a mother rabliit was giving her half-erown children their evening 

 exercise. Running about, gamboling over the rich carjiet of fallen leaves, the 

 young cotton-tails, probably soon to be food lor the hunters' guns, w^re having, 

 oblivious to all impending danger, a delightful time. Suddenly a great ominous 

 shadow poised over them. The mother rabbit squeaked her call of alarm, but too 

 late! A short scuffle, a clapping of huge wings and one of her little family fell 

 victim to the ravenous maw of "Old Head Hunter,'" who sailed silently back 

 to his perch to devour his latest prize. Where only a few minutes before peace 

 and freedom dwelt, now a poor mother was mourning the loss of one of her 

 voung, powerless to avenge its untimely death. The brains of the young rabbit 

 only served to whet "Old Head Hunter's" appetite, and with another long and 

 weird hoot he was off in search of another victim, which this time happened to be 

 a large rat that momentarily exposed himself as he ran across a moonlit space near 

 a farm yard. In a few seconds the rodent was beheaded and the brains devoured. 

 A pigeon straggler in a dove cote near the scene of the last tragedy wai the 

 next to fall a prey to the rapacious bird of the night. "Old Head Hunter" was 

 fairly gloating in blood. The terror of the woods was in his glory. 



Having feasted on pigeon brain, "Old Head Hunter," not wishing to take 

 any more chances in such close proximity to a human habitation, sailed back 

 toward the woods in search of another variety of brain special. He had not 

 long to wait. 



In a marshy bog that bordered his domain, a small flock of ducks had 

 paused for rest and food on their long migration southward. His sharp ears 

 caught their squawks of contentedness as they settled for the night; his piercing 



913 



