1 6 GAME-BIRDS AT HOME. 



you felt very small. Yet you felt consolation in 

 being victimized by such a smart bird, and went 

 on to look for another with more love than ever. 

 And when again you found the dog in icy rigid- 

 ity where the woolly tails of the clematis made a 

 haze in the thicket of wild plum by the brook- 

 side, and through the dense tangle of twigs and 

 still clinging leaves two brown streaks shot from 

 before him and you had to drop on one knee to 

 get a full sight of them and have your gun clear 

 of the brush, — who would suppose that anything 

 but disappointment could be your portion again? 

 Ah ! when along the gun you caught a glimpse 

 of buzzing white where the mottled breast was 

 wheeling through an opening, and dimly saw a 

 puff of feathers mingle with the shower of dead 

 leaves and twigs, yet had no time to mark re- 

 sults, but turned the gun into the mass of cover 

 in which the other bird had already vanished, 

 and sent another charge of shot a foot or two 

 ahead of the last place where you saw it — what 

 sweet uncertainty was that ! You fancied you 

 heard each time a faint thump on the ground, 

 but fancy had toyed too often with your hopes. 

 And when the dog drew and picked up some- 



