St. Landry democrat., 1894-02-17
BEAR AID ilAM Is.

lie common HCl HdNh, tllot9n one U!
the shye>t of birds, is capable OF dis
PLAYING, on occasion, Il splendid audacity
and courage 1t looks upon man With
well grounded suspicion, and is there
fore difficult t. observe; but any one
who las attempted to rob Il hawks nest
when the owners were at home will bea'
witness to its lighting qualities.
Having an Intelligent appreciation o.
its own powers, as well as of its weak.
nesses, it rarely makes mistakes, and its
prudence often wins it q most unde,
served reputation for cowardliness. |
have known Il wounded hen-haWk to IN,
tict an ignominious defeat upon a
spaniel, which bore fOl il long time the
scars of that novel conflict.
Of all the incidents Of which | have
heard or read, illustrating the combined ,
originality and daring which hen-ha
may display when put upon It's mettle,
none can compete with an instance which
fell under my own observation two
summers ago, whcu hunting on the
upper St ,|ohA River, in New Bruins
wick
The ntighbolh,uu was one where bears
and biueberiits were abundant, they
usually flourish together. Up long
hillside, partially Wooded and thlrk with
bluebe1ries, | was following fresh bear,
tracks when, unexpectedly, came out
on the brink of Il wide ruvue. Its walls
were perhaps hundred yards apart, and
over the tree tops, far below my leet,
was soaring II large hawk whose nest
was probably near hy,
over my head marked another hawk,
which swooppd as caught sight Of it,
upon a quarry some fifty yards away
As the bird did not rise | inferred that
it had been successful, and ! pushed
cautiously through the bushes to see
what it had struck The bear-track
which | was following went in the same
direction, close along the edge OF the
ravine, and ! kept sharp lookout for
my own intended victim.
Presently, through screen OF sumach
leaves, caught sight Of the bird, tear
ing tiercely at the still struggling body
of a rabbit. AS was after larger game,
| had no desire to molcst the hawk, and
was watching him with interest, 1T was
evidently the male, q smaller bird than
the one l had first seen, when out from
a clump of fir trees, farther on. came my
bear.
The animal $troled up ana calmly ap-
proprated the rabbit, which was quite
too heavy for the hawk to carry away.
Not till the bear was within ten feet OF
him did the bird relinquish his prey, and i
then, with an angry clip, he swept over
the brink of the gorge.
The bear, being well fed with blue
berries, was in no unmannerly haste to
begin his meal, and while he stood sniff
ing at the body | waited for him to move
SO that could get an effective shot In
perhaps half minute my opportunity
arrived, and raised my rifle, - only to
lower it in astonishment as | saw the
angry hawk descend like 4 thunGcrboIt
and Strike the bear a terrific blow on the
head.
With a yelping growl of alarm aH9
wrath the astonished brute whlrled halt-
round, rising on his hind-qHarters as he
did so and &C the same moment the otner
hawk darted on the prey and tried to .
carry it off This was huge bird, with
splendid speep Of wings; but she could
not llft tHt weight VI tiidI l"' i"''i'.
Her struggles. however, ayal!ed e
drag the ....ag ~
toward +, cage OF gao Ter it ap- 1s II
bruin, r,Iovering iron: the ground
realizing the character O.,..4,c,....,;sss.
sprane forward with - = -
gained the spoil. e-<.s~zzss
The hawk Tapped off suIcn1y' o.
bruin with the rabbit III his mouth, W.
turning away, when again the thunder-
bolt descended on his head, almost in
his eyes, and he dropped the body with
Il roar of rage. But this time the scheme
OF the birds failed to work, for the bear
planted one great hind paw on hls booty, 7
and rose to meet the next attack.
The larger hawk seemed furious at the
change of tactics, and dashed like l,ght-
ming at the bears eyes, with q reckless
daring even finer than that winch hef
mate had displayed. Now, however
the bear was ready, and swift as was I'M
attack, it was no swltter than the De-
fensive sweep Of the great fore paw
which met the bird in the air and dashet-~
it to the ground, mass of tlutterlnt
feathers.
That stroke was final and realizing
apparently. that his mate Vas killed, t
other hawk sailed away instantly to
erv, without waiting 10 see how speedfcJ~~
a bullet from my rifle avenged his oss.-
youths Companion.
al,