; / 



W :M ^ i! 



I'hutu by George Shiras, 3rd 

 THE YOUNG BULL MOOSE THAT WAS EOKCIBLY EDUCATED (SEE I'AGES 449-450) 



camera, but his gait increased until he 

 tooi< wing, so I returned to the spot 

 where the rest of the family were doubt- 

 less concealed and could faintly see the 

 hen outlined in the thin grass, while the 

 five or six young, almost at my feet, 

 were not noticed until the old bird took 

 flight, when the}', too, popped up into 

 the air, and with their short wings man- 

 aged to fly out of the creek bottom and 

 tumble into a willow thicket a few }'ards 

 awa}'. 



"Ck)ing to the lower end I had one of 

 the guides walk through the willows, 

 but before the family were driven out 

 the cock returned in response to the call 

 of the hen, and I finally got a picture 

 of him standing boldly on a rock in the 

 middle of the stream. The parents then 

 led the young into a blue bed of flower- 

 ing peas, and when the two returned to 

 guard the retreat I got a portrait of the 

 pair" (see pictures, page 466). 



Again, under date of August 27 : 

 "While sitting in the spruce blind 

 waiting for moose, I noticed a large 

 hawk "circling the marsh in search of 



prey. As it passed behind me there was 

 a roar of wings, and turning I saw a 

 brood of willow grouse in the air with 

 the hawk poised above, apparently un- 

 certain which victim to swoop down 

 upon, but before this was determined 

 the cock shot up straight as an arrow in 

 front of the hawk and then the race was 

 on. For the first 50 yards the two were 

 separated by only a few feet, but the 

 way the cock suddenly increased its 

 speed showed very plainly that flight was 

 under check until the hawk was lured 

 away far enough to give the surprised 

 family a chance to find some sort of 

 concealment. 



"In a minute or so the hawk returned 

 and carefully circled over the hummocks 

 of moss, looking intently for the slight- 

 est trace of one of the covey. Down it 

 suddenly dropped for a distance of 20 

 feet — undoubtedly seeing the brown 

 feathers of a partly concealed bird — but 

 with equal speed the hen darted up, ap- 

 parently hitting the body of the hawk 

 just below the tail, and either because 

 the talons could not clutch it in such a 

 position or because unable to strike with 



455 



