THE OSPREY. 



sent every drop of blood leaping through my dis- 

 tended veins, and set every nerve and fibre in my 

 body quivering with suppressed excitement. 



Tne boat reeled, quivered, vihirled as on a 

 pivot, her bow crashed in the ice with a shock 

 which sent my excited Eskimo crew sprawling 

 on their backs between the thwarts, then slid off, 

 and the next moment we were tearing througa 

 the water, with the foam spurting from our bows 

 and the water boiling under our stern. 



For the first few yards, only the head of the 

 animal, to which we were fast, was visible: then, 

 witli a rush and a splash, the herd rose like one 

 animal close to and all about the boat. What 

 savage-looking brutes they were! Their great 

 heads armed with gleaming white tusks, their 

 small, deep-set, bloodshot eyes, and their thick, 

 bristle-studded lips opening to give vent to the 

 most vicious roars. 



A well-directed volley from the two Win- 

 chesters at the most pugnacious of the animals, 

 Lee taking one side of the boat and I the other, 

 sent the herd under again, and enabled me to 

 cast a rapid glance about me. to see that every- 

 thing was all right, and that we were not in 

 danger of being smashed against anv of the 

 ragged cakes of ice whicli lay in our swift course. 



The respite was only for a moment, but it gave 

 us the opportunity to replenish the magazines of 

 our rifles, and when the herd again, with a simul- 

 taneous rush that threw their bodies out of the 

 water, rose roaring among the oar blades, the 

 flash of the rifles in their very faces, and the 

 bullets crashing against their massive heads, 

 sent them under again. 



Several times after this thev returned to the 

 attack, but even their iron skulls and savage per- 



tinacity were no match for the almost continuous 

 tire ot our Winchesters, and at last, with three or 

 four of their number dead, and several others 

 leaving crimson trails behind them, the herd left 

 the boat and gathered about the one to which 

 we were fast. 



Then, as opportunity offered, when the captive 

 animal rose to the surface again, a single bullet 

 from my three-barrel penetrated the base of his 

 skull. There was an interrupted bellow as his 

 head sank into the water, a few big bubbles rose 

 to the surface and then the dead weight of two 

 tons settled slowly upon the line, until it hung 

 straight down from the bow of the boat, while 

 the remainder of the herd dashed, roaring and 

 bellowing away among the ice-bergs. The 

 struggle was at an end. 



Then the dead animal was towed to the nearest 

 suitable cake of ice. a flat pan some fifty feet 

 across, when everyone landed; the lines were 

 transferred to the ice, the walrus pulled up till 

 its head was out of water, and then, with the 

 deftness born of long experience, my Eskimos 

 cut holes in the surface of the ice-cake, a couple 

 of slits in the thick hide of the walrus, rove an 

 impromptu tackle and fall from the lines, and 

 then all hands swaying on the line, and laughing 

 and shouting like fur-clad demons, gradually 

 warped the lifeless mass of the dead "elephant of 

 the north" out upon the surface of the ice. As 

 the hind flippers came fairly on the ice, the 

 Eskimos dropped the lines, seized their knives, 

 and swarming upon the carcass, in an extremely 

 short time, had it dismembered and jiiled in 

 pieces suitable for nassing into the boat, each 

 piece having a handle made with a slash of the 

 knife through the edge of the tough skin. 



BIRDS OF PASSAGE. 



BY J. M. KECK. 



'"But the night is fair. 

 And everywhere 

 A warm, suft vapor fills the air. 

 And distant sounds seem near ; 



"And above, in the light 

 Of the star-ht night. 



Swift birds of passage wing their flight 

 Through the dewy atmosphere." 



THESE lines indicate that Henry W. Long- 

 fellow was an observer of nature as well 

 as a master of good English. He was 

 aware of the fact that birds migrate largely by 

 night. Ornithologists have discovered that 

 most of our smaller birds, such as the warblers, 

 vireos, creepers, kinglets, wrens, flycatchers, 

 tanagers, orioles, thrushes, and native sparrows, 

 make their semi-annual excursions almost ex- 



clusively after sunset. Lighthouse keepers along 

 the lake shores and sea coasts report myriads of 

 these migrants striking against the glass and 

 towers at all hours of the night, and large num- 

 bers of them receiving fatal injuries. The chief 

 reason for this nocturnal migration doubtless is 

 that these birds, being less swift of wing than 

 the hawks and shrikes, find it safer to undertake 

 long and exposed flights in the darkness. Dur- 

 ing daylight they rest and feed in somewhat 

 sheltered places, where they can depend for safety 

 upon their skill in dodging under cover, as they 

 are wont to do in their native haunts. 



That they often travel immense distances in a 

 night has been determined by comparison of the 

 notes of observers stationed at different points 

 along their routes. The first appearance of a. 



