The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-03-05

Il. He will walkias II on eRRshells, and his eyes
will shift overto and fro looking for signs. II he
be a master he will have no call in his pocket
He will use only the organs with which
nature has gifted him. Some Of the best
callers in the South are mouth-callers. This
gift. however. Is rare. and most men find II i'm
possible to acquire It. Supposine that the
hunter lie merely an expert. and not a master.
he will have q call made from . wing bone. or a
hollow reed. or a little four-sided box OF cedar
and struck with a bit Of wood. or q piece Of q
schoolboy's slate. two inches square. This last
he will hold In his followed left hand and
strike IL with q pine splinter. tho size OF n
pencil. which has been stuck through a corn
cob. All OF these calls have their advocates
and also their limitations. Not any OF them
will produce the Robbler's challenge. or
his i~nsIstent demand flor a mate. They
will make. however. q reasonably accu-
rate imitation OF the hens note. or note
OF the gobbler. or hen. p%roclaiminR salts
faction over food discovered. or the note which
calls other members OF the flock to food. or tho
note indicating that all Is quiet along tho Poto-
mac and no foe is near. Unfortunately they will
emit the alarm note more easily and frequently
than any other. When a turkey hears this he
will Immediately resolve himself into a streak
OF bronze light and depart with a roar like the
roar OF a locomotive. That ends the hunters
chances OF that bird. The only call which has
all Of the notes 10 a leaf. held between the
thumb bases OF the hands and applied to the
lips In q certain fashion. With this the chal-
lenge. the love note. the food note. the assembly
note may be all given. but a man can learn to
use his unaided mouth as quickly as he can
learn to use the leaf. All OF these things must
be known to the hunter. however. or he will
wear his legs to stumps and never get a feather.
Having reached q part OF the woods which
shows a sign. the hunter who knows how will
select his stand with an eve single to the
massive brain Of the bird he Is seeking. II
there be O very, very thick top OF a dead tree
lying near he may select that. II he cannot
find a natural blind utterly impervious to the
eye he will place his back against a large pine
tree. or some tree whose bark nearly APP
proaches his clothing In color. and remain
upright and rigid. 1t Is o curious fact that in
standing for either turkey or deer the man
with the gun would much better be on the side
OF the tree nearest the oncoming prey. II he
be so placed. and perfectly quiet, the chances
are that the animal will fail to see him. II he
be on the further side Of the tree he will have
to move his head slightly in order to peer
around II. and any wild thing will instantly de-
tect a moving object, no matter how slight the
motion. Having placed himself. the expert
purses his lips and sends out the challenge. in
fating his chest and giving force to the
breath expulsion. 1t is not the Robbls OF the
early morning. 1t is deeper. louder. more sus-
tanned. There is a suggestion Of anger In It.
Little muscles in the mans throat futter rap
idly as the sound goes out. This is repeated at
intervals Of a minute. Not more than q half
dozen calls are uttered. The commonest fault
Of the turkey hunter is calling too much. II
there be a gobbler in hearing he will answer.
He may be a half-mile distant. but sound.
bounding from traa tr1lnk RI fraa trupk tra yaIa
far in the woods. The trained caller. when he
receives his first answer. will wait at least
three minutes. Then he will send out his
challenge again.
In the meantime the 'gobbler has been
marching about In q circle. endeavorinR to FIX
the direction from which the first insult came
and getting anxious. When he answers the
second call he will be three hundred yards
nearer and coming fast. Again he 10 chal-
lenged and stops to throw his head aloft and
fling back the defiance. He is certain OF the
direction now. The hunter makes not another
sound. All OF his vocal skill has been exerted.
Caution and straight shooting must now servo
him. The hardest task OF the day is be-
fore him. He must wait. moving only
his eyes. Tho last answer OF the male
has told that the bird 10 In his front and
coming straight. Forty yards away Ia an open
glade twenty feet In width. Even at this sea-
son its surface is green with young grass and
the sunlight throws on 1t the dancing shadows
Of the leaves. They are pretty. but bad for
shooting. Five. ten. fifteen minntas pass and
the shadows still culver. Nerves strung to the
nine are beginning to crawl and twist. The
breath. drawn in deeply and held long. has
grown irregular. The heart thumps uncom-
fortably. Ali
From the woods on the far side OF the glade
bursts a vision. The tail. rising at right angles.
ID spread to a glorious nve-eighths OF q circle.
The pale-blue head Is lowered within six
inches OF the ground and extended far. The
gins have become a fiery crimson. The beak
Is half open. longing to take hold. Erect. he
would stand a good three feet. this gobbler. and
his weight is not an ounce under twenty pounds.
From his huge. rounded. glossy chest a black
beard swings. His wings are half spread and
the elbows of them pushed forward. Now and
again he springs six inches from the ground
and whirls RAPIDLY. tho rustic OF him sounding
like the swish OF a woman'sg garment. He beats
his wings upon the grass and 1t is like mufled
thunder. AS he beats he struts rapidly back
ward and forward, but always advancing. 1t Is
this which has delayed him. The sunlight
bathes each beautiful bronze. black or brown
feather. He Is instinct with vanity and savage
ry. So looked and swelled Alan Brock when he
said to the boy In the bloody cabin: Hey.
mon. am l no q bonny fghterp"
Suddenly his foeman's call sounds again. ap-
parently within twenty feet Of him. He stops
as still as death and throws his head on high.
lightly poised. 30 he stands. a statue more
beautiful than ever came from the hand OF q
Greek. Now 10 the time to shootl The fatal
figure against the tree bends forward slightly.
tho tiny rihe springs to the shoulder. and a
fifth OF q second later there Is a sharp report. q
wisp OF light gray smoke. and a vortex OF
whirlinR. whirring. bounding. beating feathers
in tho glade. 1t is over almost In an instant.
and the aristocrat OF American bird life is
limp. The man who has done this deed will be
proud OF his achievement. 1t was something
beyond the power Of any save those rarely
gifted. He will treasure up the success against
q dozen failures. Every information OF the call
ing was perfection. Every condition tended
to success. The bird was young. not more
than two years old. lusty and ambitious. The
sunlight in which he stood made OF him a per-
feet target and hindered his vision into the re-
cesses OF the boles. The treo against which
the hunter was fattened exactly matched his