THE HOODED CROW 
for he was as sour wid them as a bag o' ferrets " ; 
and probably James was right. But whether 
it was indeed jealousy of his rights as leader, 
or else, in some strange way, his care for the 
rest of his band which impelled him, the fact 
remains that just as the other bird craned his 
neck for the morsel, Fionog-liat dropped from 
his perch, and he himself swallowed the poisoned 
meat at a gulp. 
For a minute the other two birds stood glaring 
at him, as they saw the coveted morsel dis- 
appear before their eyes. If they had not 
known the weight and readiness of their leader's 
thrashing wing, they would have fallen upon 
him there and then, but sick or well Fionog- 
liat was not an antagonist to be despised. Even 
while they hesitated his wrath blazed up, and 
he turned upon them ; but his limbs refused 
his bidding, and he flapped an impotent travesty 
of the headlong punitive rush which he had 
intended to make. Nevertheless it served its 
purpose, for the two crows took alarm at his 
contortions and sheered off. 
Fionog-liat was left alone. How long he stood 
there he did not know, for he lost all reckon- 
ing of everything. If the keeper had come 
along then, he might have knocked him over 
without a flutter. If the poison had been 
evenly distributed through the bait, Fionog-liat 
