WILD LIFE ON THE WING 
it was of no use he crouched under the wall 
and to all her coaxing and scolding he only 
answered with a sullen chirp. 
At this juncture came the first clap of thunder. 
All the moorhens on the distant river-bank 
shrieked together, for nothing upsets them so 
much as a loud and sudden noise. Cearc-uise 
flew ofF the wall, screaming hysterically. 
Luckily she alighted in the wood, and the 
chick, seeing her white tail-coverts twinkling 
in front of him, ran after them thankfully. It 
was fortunate that he did so, for his mother 
had forgotten all about him for the time being, 
and did not recollect his existence until she 
stopped from sheer exhaustion, and heard him 
crying despairingly in the darkness. However, 
her flight had been opportune in one way, for 
she found herself opposite a hole in the wall 
where a loosened stone had slipped out ; and 
on running inside with the chick behind her, 
she unexpectedly found herself in the field on 
the other side. 
The woods were quite still again, waiting for 
the next thunder-peal, and the open sky was 
so awful to Cearc-uise that she would have 
turned and run back through the hole, only 
that on the other side she suddenly heard a 
noise, softer, but quite as terrible as the thunder- 
clap the patter of feet. The hunter, who- 
34 
