AN OWL’S HEAD HOLIDAY. 261 
intimate that the bird had a barred tail, and 
must, I thought, be one of the hawks. He did 
not dispute the point; and, in truth, he was a 
modest and well-mannered young gentleman. 
I liked him in that he knew both how to con- 
verse and how to be silent ; without which latter 
qualification, indeed, not even an angel would be 
a desirable mountain-top companion. He gave 
me information about the surrounding country 
such as I was very glad to get; and in the case 
of the hawks my advantage over him, if any, 
was mainly in this, — that my lack of knowledge 
partook somewhat more fully than his of the na-- 
ture of Lord Bacon’s “ learned ignorance, that 
knows itself.” 
Whatever the birds may have been, “ moun- 
_ tain hawks,” “ fish-hawks,” or duck-hawks, their 
aerial evolutions, as seen from the summit, were 
beautiful beyond description. One day in par- 
ticular three of them were performing together. 
For a time they chased each other this way 
and that at lightning speed, screaming wildly, 
though whether in sport or anger I could not 
determine. Then they floated majestically, high 
above us, while now and then one would set his 
wings and shoot down, down, till the precipitous 
side of the mountain hid him from view; only 
to reappear a minute afterward, soaring again, 
with no apparent effort, to his former height. 
