Toung Hunters 



buy; or in making models of machines I had 

 invented. 



One of our July days was spent with two 

 Scotch boys of our own age hunting redwing 

 blackbirds then busy in the corn-fields. Our 

 party had only one single-barreled shotgun, 

 which, as the oldest and perhaps because I was 

 thought to be the best shot, I had the honor of 

 carrying. We marched through the corn with- 

 out getting sight of a single redwing, but just 

 as we reached the far side of the field, a red- 

 headed woodpecker flew up, and the Lawson 

 boys cried: "Shoot him! Shoot him! he is just 

 as bad as a blackbird. He eats corn!" This 

 memorable woodpecker alighted in the top of a 

 white oak tree about fifty feet high. I fired 

 from a position almost immediately beneath 

 him, and he fell straight down at my feet. 

 When I picked him up and was admiring his 

 plumage, he moved his legs slightly, and I said, 

 "Poor bird, he's no deed yet and we'll hae to 

 kill him to put him oot o' pain," sincerely 

 pitying him, after we had taken pleasure in 

 [ i75 1 



