THE HOODED CROW 
under the rock at the foot of the crag, and the 
pair of starving crows behind descended eagerly, 
but Fionog-liat looked at it with suspicion. 
The carcass was dragged out from where it 
had previously lain, and the surface of the 
snow was scarred all over with the broad smears 
of leather-shod feet. Moreover the paunch 
lay seductively in view, and Fionog-liat knew 
that he himself had eaten the paunch two days 
before. He was a pessimist in his way, and 
therefore when an especial piece of good for- 
tune such as the sudden appearance of so 
much good meat befell him, he was prone 
to suspect trickery. As we might read it in a 
printed book, so Fionog-liat knew that all these 
things were Man, his mark : he distrusted the 
place, and said so. But the younger birds were 
less cautious, and they would have fallen raven- 
ously upon the meat, if he had not driven them 
back with short barks and croaks of rage. As 
it was, they hirpled round the carcass, casting 
greedy sidelong glances at him as he stood 
over it ; and although they were weakly birds 
whom he generally bullied and chivvied where 
he would, he knew that they would never 
allow him to come between them and their 
food to-day. 
Uneasily he tore out a piece of the meat. 
Truly it had a strange taste, but he was so 
127 
