138 GAME-BIRDS AT HOME. 



looked sometimes as if the whole sky were fall- 

 ing on you. 



When the Grrrrrrrrrrrroooo came thick and 

 fast at night and you could see the tops of the 

 mountains shining in robes of snow over which 

 the pine, fir, and cedar in long lines stood guard, 

 the moon full-orbed looking down from a sky of 

 peerless purity, with cranes glimmering like 

 spirits among the twinkling stars, it were strange 

 if you did not go to where they were visible. 

 But even then great care had to be taken, for the 

 sand-hill crane can see any unusual thing at night 

 farther than almost any other bird, and takes no 

 chances when judging of the range of a gun. 

 Even at night the surest way, if you have no pit 

 or good cover in which to hide, is to lie upon the 

 ground, in some hollow if possible, face down- 

 ward and with the gun beneath you and so hidden 

 that no light can shine from it. Few moments 

 are more exciting than those spent in such a 

 position, with the wild chorus trilled by a score 

 of throats growing nearer and clearer by the 

 moment, while you dare not look even out of 

 the corner of your eye. With every resounding 

 note you tighten your grasp upon the gun and 



