8 THEO. & O7SEMEANNUALE: 
bad man to call upon. If I entered the barn in the morning with- 
out at once holding out my hand containing food for him to come 
and pick up as he sailed by, as was his custom, he would make a 
bee-line for my head and grab for my scalp with his claws as he 
flew over. As I could duck my head ‘‘darned quick” under these 
circumstances, he would repeat the attempt several times unless I 
scared him off. 
He was not in the least afraid of me on ordinary occasions, but 
showed great uneasiness and fear at strangers, especially ladies. 
One fatal day a trap containing fourteen live roof rats was 
brought us. Of these the five largest were skinned and their 
bodies given to George. The remaining nine, varying in size 
from half-grown to grown, were likewise given to him. The 
next day he did not seem hungry, having made quite an inroad 
into his rat-pile, neither was he at all sick. The following morn- 
ing he lay dead on the floor beneath his usual perchy his body 
being quite warm, his plumage unrufled and showing no signs 
of any struggle. His death seemed to have been sudden and 
painless. I do not think his gorge of rats killed him. Possibly - 
lead poisoning, caused by a diet of ‘‘shot”’ birds, laid him low, 
but I do not think so as he had shown no signs of sickness pre- 
viously. I only know that he has gone, but his memory and his 
skin still remain. 
