THE BUZZARD OF THE BEAR SWAMP 85. ,, 



' of the cavity was a thick coating of live mosquitoes, ' 

 most of them gorged, hanging like a red-beaded 



tapestry over the walls. 



I had taken pains that the flying buzzard should^ 

 not see me enter, for I hoped she would descend to 

 look after her young. But she would take no chances V 



; with herself. I sat near the mouth of the hollow, J^i 

 where I could catch the fresh breeze that pulled 



; across the end, and where I had a view of a far-away 



/ bit of sky. Suddenly, across this field of blue, there ^ 

 \ > swept a meteor of black the buzzard ! and evidently 



; in that instant of passage, at a distance certainly of 

 half a mile, she spied me in the log. 



I waited more than an hour longer, and when I 



; tumbled out with a dozen kinds of cramps, the un- 



; worried mother was soaring serenely far up in the 



;' clear, cool sky. 



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