56 Wilderness Ways. 



row, saw it, and his clear morning song tinkled out 

 of the dark underbrush. Kagax's eyes glowed red 

 again; he stole toward the sound for a last kill. 

 Young sparrows' brains are a dainty dish ; he would 

 eat his fill, since he must sleep all day. He found 

 the nest; he had placed his fore paws against the 

 tree that held it, when he dropped suddenly; the 

 shivers began to course all over him. Just below, 

 from a stub in a dark thicket, a deep Whooo-hoo-hoo ! 

 rolled out over the startled woods. 



It was Kookooskoos, the great horned owl, who 

 generally hunts only in the evening twilight, but who, 

 with growing young ones to feed, sometimes uses the 

 morning twilight as well. Kagax lay still as a stone. 

 Over him the sparrows, knowing the danger, crouched 

 low in their nest, not daring to move a claw lest the 

 owl should hear. 



Behind him the same shadow that had passed over 

 the partridge's nest looked into the hare's form with 

 fierce red eyes. It followed Kagax's trail over that of 

 the mother hare, turned back, sniffed the earth, and 

 came hurrying silently along the ridge. 



Kagax crept stealthily out of the thicket. He had 

 an awful fear now of his feet; for, heavy with the 

 blood he had eaten, they would rustle the leaves, or 

 scratch on the stones, that all night long they had 



