limb. The tail turned out to be a large mink, 

 230 . . . . . ° 



just killed, with a beautiful skin that put 



^-^ookooskoos five dollars into a boy's locker. Another 

 time I shot one that sailed over me; when 

 he came down, there was a ruffed grouse, 

 still living, in his claws. Another time I 

 could not touch one that I had killed for the 

 overpowering odor which was in his feathers, 

 showing that Mephitis, the skunk, never loses 

 his head when attacked. But Kookooskoos, 

 like the fox, cares little for such weapons, and 

 in the spring, when game is scarce, swoops 

 for and kills a skunk wherever he finds him 

 prowling away from his den in the twilight. 

 The most savage bit of his hunting that I 

 ever saw was one dark winter afternoon, on 

 the edge of some thick woods. I was watch- 

 ing a cat, a half-wild creature, that was 

 watching a red squirrel making a great fuss 

 over some nuts which he had hidden, and 

 which he claimed somebody had stolen. 

 Somewhere behind us, Kookooskoos was 

 watching from a pine tree. The squirrel 

 was chattering in the midst of a whirlwind 

 of leaves and empty shells which he had 



