148 THE BUZZARD. 



He would never suffer any other bird of the rapa* 

 cious kind to stay near his dwelling, but would attack 

 them boldly and put them to flight. He did no mis- 

 chief among his master's poultry, nor were the chick- 

 ens, and young ducks, after a while afraid of him. 

 But he was not kind to the hens and chickens of his 

 neighbours, and would sometimes pounce upon them ; 

 so that his master was often obliged to advertise that 

 he would pay for all mischief his Buzzard might be 

 guilty of. He was, however, frequently fired at, and 

 at different times received fifteen musket shots, without 

 however having a bone broken. 



Once, while flying near a forest, he dared to attack 

 a young fox, which being seen by a man, he was fired 

 at twice. The fox was killed by the shot, and the 

 bird had his wing broken, but contrived to escape from 

 the man, and was lost for seven days. The man 

 knowing by the noise of the bell on the bird to whom 

 he belonged, went and informed the owner what he 

 had done. Search was made, but the Buzzard could 

 not be found. A whistle, which used to call him home, 

 was blown every day, for six days, but the bird made 

 no answer* On the seventh day, however, he answer- 

 ed with a feeble cry, and was soon found with his 

 wing broken, being very weak and lean. He had 

 walked a mile and a half from the place where he was 

 wounded, and had nearly reached his master's house. 

 In six weeks, his wounds were healed, and he began 

 to fly about, and follow his old habits as before. Thus 

 he continued for about a year, when he disappeared, 

 never to return. Whether he was killed, or escaped 

 from choice was not known. 



