158 KNOWING BIRDS THROUGH STORIES 



startled by a rattling crackle from something near by. I 

 couldn't imagine what it could be. No animal of which I 

 had ever heard would give utterance to such a sound, and I 

 was sure no bird could have so unearthly and unmusical 

 a cackle as this. Freezing in my tracks, I began peering 

 up and down the creek to see what I had disturbed, but 

 nothing was in sight. The challenge had been so sudden 

 and unexpected that I was not sure from what direction it 

 had come, and as I was unwilling to let anything so un- 

 usual go unexplained and felt sure that whatever I had 

 disturbed would return, I settled myself by the edge of 

 the water to see what would happen. When I became con- 

 vinced that the creature was not in sight, I turned my at- 

 tention to other things. I had not been accustomed to 

 brooks so clear that one could see what the fishes in them 

 were doing as readily as one can see those in the globe on 

 the parlor table. But here I could see dozens of croppies, 

 coontailed bass, and sunfish as beautifully colored as any 

 goldfish could be. Anxious to study these creatures, I 

 moved over on a log that had fallen partly in the water, 

 and began my childhood tactics of coaxing the fish to come 

 near by throwing grasshoppers into the water. At first, 

 all were shy, but hunger was insistent, and finally one fish 

 after another got enough courage to dart up and swallow 

 a grasshopper; finally seeing no harm come of it, they 

 grew so tame that they did not hesitate to swim within 

 touch of my hand, and one of the boldest even ventured to 

 take a kicking grasshopper out of my fingers. 



All this doubtless had consumed several hours, for when 

 one becomes interested in the little creatures about him, 

 time passes without notice. Finally, I became conscious 

 that a bird had alighted on the limb of an old snag that 



