wild, and weird, and fantastic that it 

 seemed as though the winds and wilder- 

 ness had lent their voices to it and 

 made it like themselves. For fully an 

 hour I listened to it without seeing 

 much, when the birds both left and I 

 ventured out. Great was my satisfac- 

 tion when I saw the nest, and for the 

 next few days I watched it closely. 

 Though I tried to keep out of sight as 

 much as possible, the hawks, in some 

 mysterious way, seemed always to be 

 aware of my presence and they never 

 let me see them in or very near the 

 nest. When ten days had passed and I 

 still saw signs of the birds, I determined 

 to climb the tree and get, if possible, a 

 picture of the nest and eggs. And 

 right here, let me add, my troubles 

 began. The tree was three feet and a 

 half through at the ground and the 

 branches were few for some distance 

 up. Besides this, my camera and a 

 pocket full of plate holders did not help 

 me any. 



Though I approached the tree with 

 the utmost caution, the mother bird 

 heard me and slipped quietly of¥ the 

 nest and went away before I was hardly 

 in sight. After much trouble with the 

 camera, I reached the live limbs above 

 the lower .dead ones, and from there 

 the way was easier. When I was within 

 twenty feet of the nest a crow, one of 

 that nois}^ crowd that was nesting in 

 the pines nearby, saw me and began 

 to caw with all its might. Soon it was 

 joined by another and another until the 

 air and wood seemed alive with crows; 

 indeed, I began to think that the crows 

 had some claim on the nest above me 

 after all, and that the hawks were 

 deceiving me. Even now, I cannot 

 understand why the crows were so in- 

 terested, — it surely was not because the 

 hawk is a particular friend of the crows, 

 for he takes delight in tormenting him 

 whenever he can. But as I neared the 

 nest the crows began to disappear and 

 soon there was not one in sight. 



The size of the nest surprised me; 

 indeed, I could not get around it on one 

 side only — the side on w^hich the trunk 

 of the tree stood. Some of the sticks 

 in it were fully a yard long and of a 

 weight that seemed incredible. Almost 

 half a cart load of sticks and leaves 



were gathered there, and it was well for 

 the owners that the limbs which sup- 

 ported it were strong, else the whole 

 would long ago have fallen to the 

 ground. You may be sure that I was 

 eager to look over its rim and see what 

 was in it, for I had always longed to 

 see a real wild hawk's nest. And I saw 

 one this time, surely. Two large, dirty 

 white eggs rested there on its nearly 

 flat top, as peacefully as though their 

 mother had been a domestic fowl, and 

 not a wild hunter of the wilderness. 

 The sun played upon them and danced 

 with the shadows over the nest, and 

 naught was in sight to show that this 

 w^as the home of a warrior, a hunter 

 whose very existence was earned by 

 killing. Little bits of white down from 

 the birds' breasts clung to the twigs of 

 the nest and to the surrounding 

 branches, like flakes of snow in winter. 

 The bark on some of the larger limbs 

 near the nest bore little scratches and 

 furrows, as fine as those from the en- 

 graver's point, which were made by the 

 birds' talons in alighting. 



I was about to take a picture, which 

 was no easy task so high above the 

 ground, when a scream from the tree- 

 tops nearby told me that one of the 

 hawks had returned; I wondered if it 

 meant ill or good for me. Soon I heard 

 another scream, far away and faint in 

 the distance. T looked' up and far 

 above me in the silent ether, a black 

 speck appeared, which rapidly grew 

 larger and I knew that the mate was 

 returning. Dropping down like a 

 comet out of the sky, the large bird 

 alighted with a thud on a large oak 

 limb, not forty feet from my head. 

 Writhing and twisting in its heavy yel- 

 low talons was a black and yellow snake 

 three feet and a half long. The bird 

 was entirely unaware of mv presence, 

 for it quietly began to smooth the 

 glossy feathers of its broad back with 

 its bill ; all the time, however, keeping 

 an iron grip on its feebly struggling 

 prey. For fully a minute I watched 

 it in the greatest admiration and delight 

 and then I m.oved, — ever so slightly, — 

 and the spell was broken. Those rest- 

 less yellow eyes, trained to catch the 

 slightest motion, met mine so quickly 

 that thev startled me, and the whole 



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