©be TOarbler 



defenders wanting. Apparently he was deserted and ignored, quite. 



Unlike he was to any other young hawk I ever studied. Like any par- 

 rot who permits due liberties from a friend, this hawk-ling seemed to enter 

 nirvana, when one would scratch his head. He would sit quietly, in one 

 spot, without apparent fear or caution, so long as one remained near. But 

 the moment one began some tour of exploration he was off, presently, among- 

 the rocks, investigating on his own hook. (Somewhat later he proved his 

 mettle: Jan the pointer had been coursing jack rabbits among the sage-brush 

 and had returned to the buggy; only to find there a strange, brown and yel- 

 low, pinfeathery creature tethered to a hind wheel. Investigation and at- 

 tack were simultaneous. But, — there was just the flash of a young Krider- 

 hawk vaulting over on his back; a twinkling of two talons; a quick, sharp 

 howl; and a vacant place !) 



Such masses of rock as that of which I am telling seem to have a sort 

 of personality of their own. One seemed to be fairly awed, as he stood at 

 the base of the vertical walls; with minutiae of endless interest all about, 

 and below, and above, and beyond, and within. 



Just here was a honey-combed bit of rock where a colony of sand-wasps 

 had burrowed for their nesting. A few feet away were crevices, filled with 

 excreta, giving all needed evidence as to the source of the kangaroo-rat 

 whose tail I had found at the mouth of my burrowing owl dug-out. Away 



NESTING SITE OF KPJDEK'S HAWK 



