OF A RANCHMAN 169 



him up in the air, he snapped his clean, 

 cruel fangs under the brave old gobbler, 

 who by a great effort rose just out of reach. 

 One after another in the next twenty-five 

 yards each hound made his trial and failed. 

 At last the old hound again made his rush, 

 sprang up a wonderful height into the air, 

 and cut the bird down as with a knife. 



" The first flight of a turkey when being 

 coursed is rarely more than a mile, and the 

 second about half as long. After that, if it 

 gets up at all again, it is for very short 

 flights so near the ground that it is soon cut 

 down by any hound. The astonishing 

 springs a greyhound who is an old hand at 

 turkey coursing will make are a constant 

 source of surprise and wonder to those fond 

 of the sport. A turkey, after coming 

 down from his first flight, will really per- 

 form the feat which fable attributes to the 

 ostrich; that is, will run its head into a 

 clump of bushes and stand motionless as if, 

 since it cannot see its foes, it were itself 

 equally invisible. During the day turkeys 



