SINO-MONGOLIAN FRONTIER 
prying into every crack and cranny of the bark, 
or exploring the hollows under the gnarled and 
twisted roots, in its everlasting hunt for ants, 
spiders and grubs. Swish! Down from the blue 
vault of heaven swoops a fierce hawk. There is 
a flutter, a tiny cry of distress, and away goes 
the cruel marauder, bearing in his talons the 
mangled and lifeless form of one of the lively little 
tits. The others, momentarily awed by the 
tragedy, vanish from sight. Presently, as the 
exuberant and irrepressible energy of each tiny 
songster once more predominates, first one, and 
then another, makes a quick dart through the 
bushes, till the whole troop is once more flitting 
from tree to tree and bush to bush, chirping and 
singing as though nothing had happened. Next, 
the angry scolding of a pair of magpies announces 
to all the world that they can see a fox sneaking 
through the scrub upon a covey of unsuspecting 
partridges. Poor Reynard! his crafty designs 
thus revealed to his quarry, who hasten to place 
themselves out of danger, and fearing that he may 
bring the hunters down upon himself, he creeps 
away to his lair, there to nurse his hate against 
those spoil-sports, who, if the truth were known, 
are guilty of crimes every whit as bad as his own. 
Absorbing though all this might be, it was 
somewhat disheartening not to sight a pig. It 
became evident that the valleys we were working 
afforded too much cover for them, so we 
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