The Leavenworth weekly times. [volume] (Leavenworth, Kan.) 1870-1880, 1870-10-20

He waits until their long tails are plainly
cen - ths9 swiftly c,,t the air with their
rings aaking ii fairly whistle and sing
gith tn speed with which they cleavc a
passage1 through it. He now crawls rapidly
,at " Cur hut, takes the pigeon out Of the
mail basket, gives the bird a hurried whirl
into the air, and disappears within the shade
,fthe cctiars again inss,n.ly. The now sud-
lenly looscncd bird iiutters in the air for a
till, feeling - support be scars
upward and onward with surge. The cord
!ause1Es and byvle time he n up the full
length, il brings him too, short and sharp,
Az h0iering. The Wild birds, lerceiying,
~ my suppOse, . 6llUN traveller about to
alight, turn with short spin towards him,
and somcwhat falter in their flight.
Now Is the precious moment, The long
rod is set In motion; up and down it moves.
The blindest bird, feeling his support going
from under him, instinctively opens and
shuts his wings, giving to his wild compeers
the idea Of a bird alighting to feed.
Don't We suppress every motion, every
noise? Though every fiber Of each nerve Is
singing with tho tension, We arc still Us
death. The fellows nise for nsssient high
up in the air, fly about in short circle, and
whirI down ON the long poles with n noisy
fiuttering of Pinions. Here they sit cooling
but for an instant, for the ,leatl-dealius
powder has expended its force, and the
ground is covered with dead and dying.
WhooP! Whoop! hurrah. how's that
for high% We shout, when job, more fore
IDLY than elegantly, tells us to "shut up"
which We incontinently do.
Juno is sent to retrieve, ami brings in the
birds ons aftsr another, A. nicely rs y human
being could do it. Our guns are in the mean
time reloaded, and We sit impatient for the
next arrival. Heals crane through the in
tersticcs Of the cedar limbs, and eyes all
blinded by the sun peer intcntly i"r fresh
victims. Twas but 4 moment to wait, lur
here they cUnle, not one, but dozen hockS
on each side Of us, but none charging down
straight upon us Is our previous visitors.
Our lOng-stringet pigeon is again whirlcd
up in air, and rs he flies up, inc attracts the
attention of the two nearest hocks on each
side, and they divergc towards him, he being
as the apex Of a triangle. We are wild with
delight, and are anticipating glorious result
to our shooting, when the cord breaks which
holds him to the cedar, and off he gl,les
towards the nearest wood, the white string
streaming out behind him like the tail of
comet. The ilocks of wild birds turn mos,
swiftly, AMI fly along in his wake, further
and further from us, till most lost To view on
the edges Of the weed. where We can just
discern the closing of their wings as they
spring forward and upward To alight on the
wnle-sprcading limbs and branches.
We were disappointed, but make haste To
twist our remaining cord, rs To get double
the strength, albeit We lose in lichtnc>s. ar,,
h,.,. -, 4 Il
however, has lost us some precious minute,
and some dozens of iiocks have passed away
from us, seemingly on the wings of the wind,
so quickly do they come. ST quickly dr they
disappear in the distance. Do they not l,rrk
beautiful? first spcck. larger rs they az
preach, till they pass YOU like mclcors, cut
ting the chill air will, a rustic ar! Il sharp
whistle, that no familiar music ever struck
on our ears SCI pleasantly or So swcctIv Their
tails stick out sharp and hong, anil as they g"
flashing by they seem all win:s anil tail
feathers.
We are waiting quietly and patiently,
when cat r,I>hcs job, and again starts III,
stool bird on his short ;-rial VOYAGE, ifi time
successfully. How he struggles I" free him
sell, his syrat;"ns only seeming tn meni The
attraction Of some wand.rin" ilock. Nearer,
still nearer they draw, attracted l,v his Hat
tcring IL ducks ON the Potomac are charmed
by the antics of u dog The freddie cncc
more sends in the air our hapl,ss captive,
and the stool Is again successful. How they
crowd ono another in the rush To- -; good
PLACES ON the poles, which fairly hnd with
the weight ot accumulated biri-. They
push, they coo, they rub bills Together, s,Iui
in. each other aitcli,natrly. The tiger
blood in us once more comes To- ih.. front.
Triggers are pulled aud the h.lp',-s and
crippled drop heavily To earth. Two hapl,-s
birds dart up IN the air, spared irom TIE
effects of our firing; they 90 straight ul', ia,
our black attendant draws bead anil kn,-ks
them both over, finely, ave, even better
than some of the lordlicr race.
Juno this time has t., h:,y.. our help ~
gathering up the birds, rs they ci,nIlrr the
ground This discharge procured t"r VI,
twenty -ninc. OIr first one brought to- ground
twenty-twu. 80 here We had btrSL.l 81
birds and the day ynunG. Eut what hoo:S 1t
to go further? The operation WIS repeated
again and again. until further killing would
have been useless slaughter, ami W. gladly
ceased. We hal enough ior "ur irIrn'i~,
having Killed altogether upward "i w."
hundred.
Tony walked to the l,o,rc after The WAGON
which he soon brought. AMI We packed IN cur
traps, piled in our bir,is aud started Ter The
hous.. job wished u; I" stay 1urtlcr night
and try them again the mkt morning, hut
VIC rcf,,t'd To tell tin, truth We di,l not ~
perien,r, after the first two or tir," sl,u:.l,
tering discharges, ANYTHING liz. the pIe.-ur"
We expected. Somehow W. did not feel
toward the sport as We dill twenty wear. age,
and we consented To- n truce without y mrr-
muir. IL is Il srcrt that don't suit IT. call
in. down 10y trcvbery the lntle i"veeol"rcd
beauties, aud when lighting ou the pole, in
stead of finding food they tilrniSciv,, become
food. We would Infinitely rather follow
good do. through br,mbIe, bri,r. and bush,
getting scratched AMI torn at every step, than
to lie cr:,Hip1i Ui' for hours, acting the part
Of unseen auihiIslcd aSSsr>-inS. The w".rl
cock or the quail have their ehaur" for life,
according, ] grant, {" the skill of ~" hunter,
hut still il is chance. rs they rise like
arrow from the friendly cover "f some bush
or stone and fly like a ballet adown III. wind,
giving YOU small chance of getting them
again unless favored on the first shot
Returning to the house we found our early
dinner ready, ami this consisted Of pigeon
in all styles If cooking. Pigeon soup, ru:t>t
pigeon, pigeon pie, pigeon baked ami -,cw,'l.
How We dill eat pigeons, ! have won
dcrcd since that Pin-'eathers did me-, start o',t
upon lis.