SINO-MONGOLIAN FRONTIER 



prying into every crack and cranny of the bark, 

 or exploring the hollows under the gnarled and 

 twisted roots, in its everlasting hunt for ants, 

 spiders and grubs. Swish ! Down from the blue 

 vault of heaven swoops a fierce hawk. There is 

 a flutter, a tiny cry of distress, and away goes 

 the cruel marauder, bearing in his talons the 

 mangled and lifeless form of one of the lively little 

 tits. The others, momentarily awed by the 

 tragedy, vanish from sight. Presently, as the 

 exuberant and irrepressible energy of each tiny 

 songster once more predominates, first one, and 

 then another, makes a quick dart through the 

 bushes, till the whole troop is once more flitting 

 from tree to tree and bush to bush, chirping and 

 singing as though nothing had happened. Next, 

 the angry scolding of a pair of magpies announces 

 to all the world that they can see a fox sneaking 

 through the scrub upon a covey of unsuspecting 

 partridges. Poor Reynard ! his crafty designs 

 thus revealed to his quarry, who hasten to place 

 themselves out of danger, and fearing that he may 

 bring the hunters down upon himself, he creeps 

 away to his lair, there to nurse his hate against 

 those spoil-sports, who, if the truth were known, 

 are guilty of crimes every whit as bad as his own. 

 Absorbing though all this might be, it was 

 somewhat disheartening not to sight a pig. It 

 became evident that the valleys we were working 

 afforded too much cover for them, so we 



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