244 Union Bay 



of the tree, and I wondered if it was because it was afraid 

 to give the hawk an opportunity to attack from above. The 

 hawk remained indifferent. I had seen it in the marsh before, 

 and I think it fed on the chickadees and smaller birds. It 

 played its own game, one more deadly than the one which 

 soon began. 



It was nearly one-thirty. A gaily colored moving strip of 

 people had replaced the thin line crossing the viaduct, and 

 a wide band crowded along the highway from the unloading 

 cars. Horn blowing never ceased. Paper and program boys 

 shouted. A continuous procession of buses discharged their 

 loads at the rear of the stadium. The tunnel entrances poured 

 out crowds faster than the ushers could seat them. The roofs 

 of the small buildings became covered with students who 

 sprawled and smoked while they waited. The public address 

 system announced the scores of eastern games and the spec- 

 tators cheered the victories of their favorites. Now the band 

 began. It was a skillfully executed build-up, with the tempo 

 gradually increasing and the crowd becoming more tense 

 and expectant. The announcement of the teams and their 

 starting line-ups came to me clearly. At last, the hush for the 

 national anthem, a great roar as the ball was kicked, and the 

 game was on. 



I had seen three fair-sized shore'birds with white on their 

 backs fly and land on a small flat between me and the sta- 

 dium. What could be nicer than to anchor there and do a 

 little photographing while I listened to the game? I was glad 

 to find that the birds were dowitchers. They stood in water 

 three inches deep and busily probed as if they found the re- 

 sults satisfactory. My approach brought out a series of alarm 

 notes, but I moved slowly and carefully and succeeded in 

 grounding the canoe without flushing them. Cheers from the 

 field indicated that some spectacular play had been made by 

 the home team, but the noise of the low-flying planes pre- 

 vented me from hearing what had occurred. 



