JUNE JOYS 147 



that piece of meat in her unerring foot. And 

 yet she looked even prettier playing about the 

 little platform, snatching at the padded edges, and 

 then crooning, all ruffled, as though she held a 

 mouse. And if her talons were sharp, and her 

 grasp fierce enough to sometimes pierce a stout 

 glove, her soft brown eyes had not the less in 

 their clear depth somewhat telling of gentler 

 instincts. 



She would soon have been fit for total freedom, 

 and an accident conferred this sooner than was 

 intended. One day, when especially daring, she 

 darted so impetuously at the lure as to alight in 

 some ivy at the foot of a wall. At that moment a 

 stranger approached, and the bird, quick to take 

 alarm, sprang up and threw herself against the 

 wire fence above. Now wildly scared, she made 

 an upward rush that revealed for the first time the 

 surrounding busy town. More and more alarmed, 

 she rose high in air, and essayed (though at first 

 very unsteadily) the hitherto untried power of 

 soaring. The fresh wind bore her gradually away 

 toward the hillside which had so often attracted 

 her gaze ; and thus, steadily diminishing to a 



