Photo by Howard H. Cleaves 



the; e;xcite;me;nt of touching the ecce^ntric woodcock on the back (see 



PAGE 29) 



taring call, the cheery tune of a song- 

 sparrow close by, and the sparkle of the 

 sun on the ruffled surface of the pond 

 being the only things to hold our interest. 



THE OSPREY APPEARS 



Presently there came a low whistle 

 from the pig-pen, and putting my eye to 

 the observation window I could see a 

 hawk sailing toward the pond from the 

 direction of the Atlantic highlands. Soon 

 he was searching the western border of 

 the pond to the south, all the time work- 

 ing in our direction, arriving almost over- 



head in a very few minutes. Now was 

 the time to act ! The thread leading to 

 the fish's snout was given two or three 

 pulls and the camera pushed into place. 

 But even before I could get my hand 

 to the shutter release there appeared a 

 shadow over the water, and then there 

 was a splash. The hawk was grappling 

 with the decoy and in a few seconds had 

 raised fish and anchor above the water 

 and was making off with them. I feared 

 for my precious decoy, but at that mo- 

 ment the hawk's talons slipped and his 

 burden (equaling half his own weight) 



28 



