118 LAND OF THE LINGERING SNOW. 



treetop nearer us. As it alternately caught 

 grasshoppers and perched to eat them and watch 

 for more, we crept from bush to bush nearer 

 to the circle of its hunting-ground. Several 

 times it came within gunshot, and as we saw it 

 from all points of view, its rich coloring was 

 clearly revealed. The top of its head and its 

 tail were brilliant chestnut. Its back was cinna- 

 mon, its breast light and finely barred on the 

 sides. Around its throat it seemed to wear a 

 collar formed of alternate bars of black and 

 white. Its head was small, its whole bearing 

 alert, graceful, supple. After watching it for 

 some time we perceived that its mate was hunt- 

 ing in much the same manner part way down 

 the slope of the hill. The birds were sparrow 

 hawks in the perfection of spring plumage. 



One of their perches was a rude tripod made 

 of joist. This marked the summit of the hill 

 which we had reached almost without knowing 

 it. Seated at its foot we looked north, east, 

 south and west over the fair meadows, fields and 

 groves of the Charles River valley. The me- 

 andering river itself was in sight in every quar- 

 ter but the southeast, and there its tributaries 

 formed an interlacing barrier. But where was 

 Pegan Hill ? We consulted the map. 



Due north of us were Lake Waban, Wellesley, 

 and Wellesley College. Across the north and 



