206 



THE ADIRONDACK. 



ache with lifting them. No sooner does the worm, or 

 piece of venison, sink in the water than they crowd 

 round it in swarms. 



The salmon trout are noble fellows — these two 

 hunters say they have caught them weighing over 

 thirty pounds. 



I have often been struck with the singular attach- 

 ment hunters sometimes have for some bird or ani- 

 mal, while all the rest of the species they pursue with 

 deadly hostility. 



About five hundred yards from Beach's hut, stands 

 a lofty pine tree, on which a grey eagle has built its 

 nest annually during the nine years he has lived on 

 the shores of the Raquette. The Indian who dwelt 

 there before him, says that the same pair of birds 

 made their nest on that tree for ten years previous 

 — making in all, nineteen years they have occu- 

 pied the same spot, and built on the same branch. 

 It is possible, however, that the young may have 

 taken the place of their parents. At all events, 

 Beach believes them to be the same old dwellers, and 

 hence regards them as squatters like himself, and en- 

 titled to equal privileges. From his cabin door he 

 can see them in sunshine and storm — quietly perched 



