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trunk of a nearby hickory, and flat¬ 
tened his body against the bark ner¬ 
vously twitching his plume-like tail as 
he looked inquisitively around, with his 
bright bead-like eyes. Then the silence 
of the morning was rudely broken by 
the sharp report of the little gun, and 
the echoes went crashing down the 
woodland aisles. At the report, a 
startled squirrel that I had not seen, 
rushed frantically up the tree trunk 
and seated on the first limb, barked 
his anger at this harsh disturbance of 
the forest solitudes. Again the little 
B Man ton spoke, and when I resumed my 
seat upon the log, two plump squirrels 
P bulged the pocket of my hunting coat. 
The morning light steadily increased, 
and then with the abruptness of the 
rolling up of a window shade, the whole 
woodland was flooded by the level 
golden rays of the newly risen sun, and 
another day was born. 
pROM the dead top of the “coon” 
tree, came the staccato rat, tat, tat, 
of the bill of a “Flicker” industriously 
seeking his breakfast, and his melan¬ 
choly call “claipe, Claipe,” floated over 
the tree tops. From a distance came 
the faint “cawing” of crows, and the 
harsh voices of blue jays, then a swish¬ 
ing of limbs as a squirrel leaped from 
tree to tree and looking in that direc¬ 
tion, I saw a large grey approaching 
the hickory grove by the aerial route, 
gracefully he glided through the tree 
tops, and soon leaped from an extend¬ 
ing chestnut limb directly into one of 
the hickories close before me. Again 
the report of the little gun rang out 
and another squirrel was added to the 
score. For a time all was still then 
came a faint rustling in the leaves, and 
on the farther end of the fallen tree 
trunk up sprang a female grouse, to be 
followed immediately by her 
brood of nine two - thirds , 
grown chicks. With 
head erect, she 
looked with suspicion at that peculiar 
growth on the other end of the tree, 
nervously opening and shutting her 
tail feathers like a fan as she did so. 
I never moved a muscle, then her sus¬ 
picions lulled, she lowered her head, 
“fluffed” out her feathers and stood at 
rest, the chicks following her example. 
One little fellow reached out his foot 
and daintily scratched his bill, another 
with outstretched wings sank down in 
luxurious ease upon the log, and all 
together they conducted themselves 
just as a domestic hen and her clutch 
of chickens would have done under like 
circumstances. For several minutes I 
was permitted to admire this beautiful 
and rare picture of the woodlands, 
then with a soft “cluck” and a saucy 
flirt of her tail, Madame Grouse grace¬ 
fully hopped from the log, and with 
her little family trailing behind her, 
disappeared among the tree trunks, 
little realizing that the suspicious 
“bump” on the log, was one of the 
most dreaded enemies of her race, 
while I mentally marked the covey for 
royal sport in the coming November. 
beautiful plumage of the hawk, that 
lacked however, the brillancy of the 
mating season. At last my “watchful 
waiting” was rewarded, and a nut fell 
from the top of the largest tree in the 
grove, rudely shattering the morning 
silence, as it “ricochetted” from limb 
to limb, and “plumped” upon the 
ground, making an astonishing noise, 
for so small an object, looking upward 
I saw at the very top of the tree, ^he 
graceful swaying of a squirrels tail, as 
at the very extremity of a limb he 
reached for another nut, having se¬ 
cured it, he ran back to the centre of 
the limb and seated himself. Twirling 
the nut quiokly in his fore paws, as 
with his sharp teeth he sought the 
delectable kernel, the chippings pat¬ 
tering down upon the leaves below, like 
gently falling rain drops. It was a 
very long shot, and would try the little 
gun to the utmost, and I aimed long 
and carefully up the bronzed barrels, 
but it did not fail me, for at the sharp 
report, the dead squirrel came hurtling 
down to strike with a thud upon the 
ground below. 
O more squirrels appearing, I 
made my way quietly down the 
path to another scattering grove of 
hickories, and seated myself on a com¬ 
fortable looking stump to await de¬ 
velopments, and had scarcely done so, 
when gliding through the tree trunks 
as silently as a shadow, came a male 
sharp shinned hawk, and perched on 
a dead limb within easy range. His 
doom was sealed, and when he turned 
his head in the opposite direction, again 
the little Manton spoke, and that 
dreaded Pirate of the woods, had 
ceased from preying on the “little 
People” of the woodlands. Seated 
again upon the stump, I admired the 
gO by well known paths, I made the 
circuit of the woods, picking up a 
squirrel here and there, and presently 
neared its western edge again, here 
was a favorite grove of hickories, and 
I approached it with the greatest 
caution. Soon I heard the falling of 
nuts and chippings, and in the perfect 
stillness of the morning, the gritting 
of the sharp teeth on the nuts. As I 
drew near I saw the tree in which they 
were feeding, there were six of them, 
apparently one entire family, for fre¬ 
quently they would chase each other 
around the treetop in play, often 
“tusseling” together in mimic fighting 
as they did so. Just as I arrived within 
range two of them rushed to¬ 
gether, and I quickly raised 
(Continued on 
page 511) 
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Page 491 
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