The Story of a Red-tailed Hawk 



115 



the doors to present him with another, he lifted his crest and i'airl}- hissed like 

 a serpent — all his mildness had vanished. He struck the mouse with his talons, 

 but so excited had he become that he dropped it, and it ran out of sight among 

 the sticks. Immediately, he mounted his perch to watch, every sense alert. 

 The fierce expression vanished — a look of wistfulness took its place. I closed 

 the door, leaving only a crack, and watched too. Soon he flew down to examine 

 the pile of sticks, he looked in every crevice, he plunged his foot into various 

 places and at last frightened the mouse from its hiding-place. His dexterity 

 in striking it was marvelous, and his triumph unmistakable. 



From this time on, a gradual change was noticeable. He seemed more 

 \igorous, more ready to try his wings in the open. Several times he went as 

 far as the top of the 

 hill, a distance of about 

 ti\e rods, flying some 

 but walking more. His 

 almost daily sun-bath 

 quickened the beating 

 of his wings, and he 

 would utter a hoarse, 

 throaty cry, quite un- 

 like anything I have 

 ever heard. One morn- 

 ing in September, my 

 father came to the house 

 with bloody hands, 

 which he said Johnny 

 had scratched when he 

 caught him in a nearby 

 field and, continued he, 

 "That bird can HyJ^ 

 Secretly I was glad, but 

 I resolved to watch him 

 more closely to see that 



he did not fly away. Every day I fed him li\e mice, talked and played with 

 him, and yet, as October came, the question ever present and insistent was 

 "What ought I to do with Johnny?" I had about decided to offer him to 

 some Zoo. 



On October 4, the men working about the shed forgot to fasten the doors. 

 A strong wand blowing opened them and, when I went to feed my pet, I found 

 him gone. I went to the top of the hill where he had always taken his short 

 excursions, and called. October stillness and the wonderful light on the bright 

 hill was all that greeted ear or eye. I searched for some time, and all the family 

 joined me, but there was no trace of him, Six days passed and on tlie cV^ter- 



RKl) TAIL AND MOUSE 



