THE ADIRONDACKS 91 



eighth one, which was an old male, was killed with 

 smooth pebble stones, my shot having run short. 

 The wounded bird ran* under a pile of brush, like a 

 frightened hen. Thrusting a forked stick down 

 through the interstices, I soon stopped his breathing. 

 Wild pigeons were quite numerous also. These 

 latter recall a singular freak of the sharp-shinned 

 hawk. A flock of pigeons alighted on the top of a 

 dead hemlock standing in the edge of a swamp. I 

 got over the fence and moved toward them across 

 an open space. I had not taken many steps when, 

 on looking up, I saw the whole flock again in motion 

 flying very rapidly around the butt of a hill. Just 

 then this hawk alighted on the same tree. I 

 stepped back into the road and paused a moment, 

 in doubt which course to go. At that instant the 

 little hawk launched into .the air and came as 

 straight as an arrow toward me. I looked in amaze- 

 ment, but in less than half a minute he was within 

 fifty feet of my face, coming full tilt as if he had 

 sighted my nose. Almost in self-defense I let fly 

 one barrel of my gun, and the mangled form of the 

 audacious marauder fell literally between my feet. 



Of wild animals, such as bears, panthers, wolves, 

 wildcats, etc., we neither saw nor heard any in 

 the Adirondacks. "A howling wilderness," Tho- 

 reau says, "seldom ever howls. The howling is 

 chiefly done by the imagination of the traveler." 

 Hunter said he often saw bear-tracks in the snow, 

 but had never yet met Bruin. Deer are more or 

 less abundant everywhere, and one old sportsman 



