30 AMEKICAK GAME EIKD SHOOTING. 



cerned, and these have taught me to respect his mental 

 and physical qualities, and to sympathize with those who 

 capture him after many trials and tribulations. I re- 

 member what difficulty an old settler and myself had 

 one morning to bag a gobbler which was said to be " so 

 cute," owing to the number of times he had been fired 

 at, that he knew the " call " of every man in the district 

 who owned a gun. It was even intimated that he knew 

 how near he could approach them without getting liit, 

 and that his usual trick was to draw their fire and then 

 stand and laugh at them until he was ready to drojj from 

 exhaustion. My informant went so far as to say that 

 this celebrated gobbler respected good marksmen, and 

 only smiled or laughed at them when they missed, but 

 that he fairly hated the poor shots, and hooted them in 

 the most contemptuous manner. 



" Better look out for yourself ! " he exclaimed, ''or he 

 may give you a dose of hissing." 



" And what about yourself ? " I asked. 



"Oh! I'm used to it," was the answer; "I don't care 

 much for his hissing now." 



•' All right; then I'll steel myself against his derision 

 also, by bagging him as soon as he comes near enough," 

 I replied, confidently. 



" Well, you needn't fret about that, for unless he has 

 become mighty polite of late, he won't come near enough 

 to bite you, anyway." 



I expressed my pleasure at this feeling of considera- 

 tion on his part, as we started for the haunt of the 

 cynical bird, about three o'clock, one delightful morning 

 in March. This haunt being in the sunny South, the 

 light breeze that stole tlirough the vale was laden with 

 the fragrance of many flowers, while the air resounded 

 with the droning hum of bees and insects, and the song 

 of the early-rising birds. We marched about three 



