182 MONTAUK POINT. 
harmonious cadence, and by the low of distant cattle, 
just shaking off their slothful dreams. Hardly have 
we disposed our body to the requisite flatness, when 
a chattering chorus of melody makes our heart leap 
with eagerness, and our eyes strain with impatience 
to discern its source. Aha, we have them now! 
that small, erratic cloud to the eastward, bearing 
directly before the wind towards our covert, sends 
a thrill through our being, which the whole “ spa- 
cious firmament on high,” even on the loveliest of 
nights, has, we honestly confess it, never succeeded 
in imparting. On they come, nearer, nearer, nearer. 
We pucker up our lips to greet their approach, but 
the saucy gale renders our rude efforts futile, and 
we commit our trust to Providence and our painted 
counterfeits. Now they are within easy range, but 
somewhat scattered ; with a violent effort at self- 
command, worthy of a higher cause, we remain mo- 
tionless, for there are evident indications of a social 
spirit in that joyous group. They pause, they 
swerve, they wheel upon their tracks, and with 
motionless wings and a sweet low-murmured greet- 
ing, they approach the fatal stools. How rash the 
confidence! How foul the treachery! But, we 
must also confess, how intense the excitement, as 
we pull the right trigger at the critical moment, and 
then, as the deluded victims scatter wildly, with an 
outburst of appeal against man’s cruelty, give them 
the left barrel, and add three more to the list of 
feathered martyrs. With lightning speed, their 
thinned ranks vanish beyond the neighboring sand- 
