A DAWN EXPERIMENT 179 



we sank down, each beside one, to wait for 

 the birds to move. 



I do not know how long we waited. The 

 haycock was warm, the night wind had fallen, 

 the gray sky was turning white, with prim 

 rose tones in the east; the morning star paled 

 and disappeared; the marsh mists partly 

 lifted, and revealed far inland the soft, dark 

 masses of encircling woods. And every little 

 while came the whistling call, plaintive, yet 

 curiously hurried, coming from nowhere. I 

 lay back against the hay, and, contrary to 

 orders, I let my gun slip down beside me. The 

 fact was, I had half forgotten that anything 

 definite was expected of me, and when sud 

 denly I heard a warning &quot;Lookout!&quot; from 

 Jonathan s mow, I was in no way prepared. 

 There was a rush of wings ; the air was full of 

 the whistling notes of the birds as they flew; 

 they passed over us, circling, rising, sinking, 

 sweeping far up the marsh, then, as Jonathan 

 whistled their call, circling back again out of 

 the mist at incredible speed. 



Probably it would have made no difference 

 if I had been prepared. A new kind of game 

 always leaves me dazed, and now I watched 



