26 WATER-BIRDS IN THEIR HOMES. 



birds, and flings their bodies down the crag, it is Kayoshk, 

 the sea gull, that discovers them and gives the alarm. 



" Till at once Kayoshk, the sea gull, 

 Perched upon a crag above them, 

 Shouted : * It is Pau-Puk-Keewis ! 

 He is slaying us by hundreds ! 

 Send a message to our brother, 

 Tidings send to Hiawatha ! '" 



The poet makes a mistake when he says that the gull makes 

 his outcry " from a crag " ; it is his custom to give the alarm 

 on the wing. 



But nothing could be more appropriate than choosing the 

 sea gull to raise the alarm. Many a time the Indian seal- 

 hunter creeping over the tide-ledges of the bay, with every 

 advantage of wind and sun, hears the harsh scream of a gull 

 or tern flying over, and curses Kayoshk for betraying him. 

 Every bird and beast about the seashore knows that warning, 

 just as in the woods every creature halts and scurries off when 

 the little chipmunk raises his sharp alarm. "A man ! a man ! " 

 he seems to say ; " run ! run ! a man ! " and the old crow, 

 flapping over, adds gruffly, "Go! go! go!" Thus it is that 

 the birds and beasts stand guard for each other. 



Again Longfellow speaks of the sea gulls as they work upon 

 the carcass of the great sturgeon within which Hiawatha is 

 imprisoned, and -in the description we mark two fine points 

 and one little error. 



" Then he heard a clang and flapping, 

 As of many wings assembling, 

 Heard a screaming and confusion, 

 As of birds of prey contending, 

 Saw a gleam of light above him, 

 Shining through the ribs of Nahma, 

 Saw the glittering eyes of sea gulls, 



