St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1876-05-12
Mark TWain's Rare Birds.

Mark Twain's Rare Birds.
Mark had u constant PLAY mate and
chum. Il boy about his own age. named
Napoleon PavtN, or. for short. Pole
PaNrN. One warm spring day. the two
boys having got II holiday. Mark shoul-
dcIcd an old flint lock mu>ket and Pole
IN old squirrel rifle. without anN lock
at all. which he carried along. us he
said. just for the looks of the thing. and
went ckhuntin" over in spy Bottom.
| The boys hunted faithful, for several
hours. and succeeded in killing a
rhickcn-hawk k and II crow. after which
they began their homcu ard march. not
scIN proud of their success, as in this
region at that day game abounded.
Finally Mark stopped suddenly y. Us the
idea struck him. and exclaimed:
''Scc here. Pole. lets get up Il rare
what dye call it \ rare geological
specimen for the Boss YOU see he's got
Il great hankerin' after these things
WHATS Il rare geological specimen,
Mark , said Pole. as he opened wide
his eyes.
"Why. its rare bird what amt
never been seen in these paIts before;
something very uncommon like" au-
>wcrcd Mark.
Where are Nuu going to git her
Mark ? We ant got nothing but the
old chicken rohhcr and egg sucker, and
they amt Il hit uncommon," "aucried the
Sceptical Pole.
"Nc1l get her up to order. Pole"
a>Wcred Mark. a> he flung himself on
the gra>> hcneatlI Il giant old elm tree
The two boys went to work on their
raIc 'gcol""IcaI Specimens. As Mark
would pluck Il feather from the tail of
the crow. Pole would hand him IA cor
responding feather that had been taken
from the tail ot the hawk, which Mark
would catctullN insert III the socket
from which he had Just pulled the crows
feather: and thus. after two hours
steady work every one of the long
feathers "t the hawks tail had been
transferred 10 the crow. and it would
nave required Il careful examination to
have detected the fraud.
How Is that for Il specimen, Pole :"
sad Mark. as he admiIingly exhibited
the rctalled crow to the gaze of his coIn-
panlon. rt>plcndcnt in the rich plumage
Of the chicken eater.
''She is Il >tunner, Mark ; IL regular
sumner. | GUESS they amt never seen
Il hild like that in Hannibal, before"
The hawk WAS thrown away and the
boys trudgcd homcward. BY the time
they arrived III town. the blood of the
crow had c"mgcaled. aud the false
feathers in the tail had hecome firmly
fixed.
A. Mark had said. Judge Clemens,
his athtr. WaS >omrW hat of "A naturalist
III" ha'i Il passion i"r whatever was
'''' an" s'l'pSc Ill lic animal king
"""i; =,
wy; NIih ne sald' where III
,"' ""''u "iu Ho" gel that strange
"'''h.ns "''"
my "plll"h. replied Mark, with
'' "'' VI S''''r' Importance IMAM ne
WAS accustomed I" assume III the pres
r,'' VI MS iaihei' that Is the BIRD OF
aiailSr IciSiWl>t, that 1t belongs To
IhAi >perlr>.
ha' hl%ht the bind was carefully
lAld away III Il place where ii would be
sale from the dcN onring presence of old
'"'i cats NlIlclI Mark afterwards wrote
about ;s creating such fearful deStruc-
non III MS SISTER candy pulIInGS. The
report soon circulated through the town
- - '''''' Wv INV vi W Hl'll
h''u never before been seen. was killed,
ana Mark ahd Pole became the heroes
"i 'h', hnnr. he next day beng sun
"'\' Judge clemens invited all the wise
men "I the village of Hannibal to his
house I" examine and pass an opinion
on the new geological specimen. They
'Hlnr. The bird was exhibited on
'I"Ic. around which the saNans gather
r"' one tarii"h. headed hN DIR. --,
a''''h 'Iat 'he hlrd WAS nothing
more .hai' common black crow, the
van "i winch HAD been turned gray 10y
some accidental cause not understood,
having possibly had salt thr"Nn ON it
~ the Young and tender days of the
'ifn' ne other faction. headed 10y
Judge Icnrl'>' secuted the idea. It
WIS ihN"id rldIrul"us. They wrIc
,n"'h ''N'm"Ird the crow that posi-
"'N II WIS Il crow hul. II 50. II belonged
!" separate ami distinct species from
any '''h' ma" ever before been dis
'"Hr''". We
Nv "'>''.'>>i"'l was continued and he
Il IlI