134 AMEKICAN GAME BIKD SHOOTING. 



was witli several sijecies of 23i'edaceous animals. The 

 first thing that aroused us from our reverj was the 

 alarmed cry of a duck, and on looking up we saw a mal- 

 lard, which was high in the air, rushing downward with 

 the speed of a hurricane, wliile a hawk, which looked like 

 a si)cck in the clouds, pursued it. The duck tried every 

 stratagem it knew to escape its pursuer; it darted hither 

 and thither in the most abrupt manner, its aim being, 

 evidently, to get to the water as soon as possible, and 

 this the cheetah of the air tried to prevent by dashing 

 under it, and causing it to rise- again, or to sheer off from 

 its course. The chase lasted for some time, owing to the 

 habit the hawk had of rising above the duck in order to 

 make a downward dart at it. Whenever it did this, the 

 latter would rush for the lake, only to bring its relent- 

 less enemy swooping down again like a meteor. The 

 hawk finally made a lunge at the terrified fugitive, not a 

 hundred yards from us, and this caused it to rush for the 

 shelter of the woods, but its fate was evidently sealed, for 

 its deadly foe was just about to strike it when the report 

 of a gun rang througli the forest, and the hawk fell dead, 

 while the mallard, with cries of terror, went sailing in 

 safety through the trees. 



"On looking in the direction of the detonation to see 

 who had so promj^tly come to the rescue of the fugitive, 

 we saw the doctor standing on the edge of the lake with 

 a gun in his hand, and recognized in him the chivalric 

 hero who had defended the weak from the murderous 

 oppressor. Smith was so impressed with this noble deed 

 that he indulged in a fit of poetry concerning it, and 

 this he finally jotted down in my note book, but as it is 

 not of the very highest order of rhythm, I will only 

 quote the first verse, merely as a sample : 



" That pirate of the air— the savage hawk, 

 Pursued a duck till he made it squawk ; 

 But Dr. Pillbox, with his gim so gory, 

 Shot him, and crowned himself with glory." 



