The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-22

Without any nature faking or any mawlSishness, Dr. Henry Smith Williams describes the drama of a wounded bird in Appletons Magazine for September. We quote part of his account:
 "The bird at which the boy had fired thrust down it's legs and wabbled If about to fall; then recovered itself and flew on, it's legs dangling. A chance shot had apparently broken it's back, paralyz- ing its legs, but leaving it still strength enough to fly a certain distance. Trained hunter as he was, the boy watched the wounded bird, and marked the exact spot where it finally dropped, just at the edge of cornfield half a mile away.
 "'I think I'll go after It., said the youth.
 " 'Nonsense said Luther; its a half mile away and you have all you want without it.
 But the bird is wounded. I hate to have it lie out there and suffer
 oh, it's probably dead; or if it isn't some skunk or weasel will kill 1t tonight. Come along.
 "It was nearly sunset and the youth was tired after the long tramp of the day. It would be long trip over to the corn field for weary legs-and then perhaps to find the bird dead. Already it was supper time at home, and he had hunters ap- petite. So he allowed himself to be over persuaded, and the two tramped home ward.
 But the grouse that had fallen over in the cornfied was not dead. Nor as 1t chanced, was it's wound of a kind to pro- duce speedy death. The injury did, how 7 ever render the bird utterly helpless. Once it had dropped to the earth it could not rise again. Nor could it move about on the ground, for its legs were paralyzed completely. It lay on the bare earth,
 .4,IIr frAY, 1aAn Fnes of hawks, and where there was not much danger that marauding beast would find it. But there was no food at hand. It was doubtful even whether the bird would be able to sip few drops of dew from cornstalk to quench the thirst that it's wound must develop.
 Quite obviously fate had marked the grouse for lingering death of torture. It's wound, already painful, must become more so with the lapse of time. Insects would come in phalanXes to poster it. Hunger and thirst would add their modi- cum of agony. The greatest mercy 1t 5 could hope for would be the coming of some skunk or weasel, as the hunter had suggested, to put it out of misery But no such messenger of speedy death chanced to come that way"
 Dr. Williams describes the church-serv- ice the following Sunday morning, end the awakening of the boys mind to fear that the wounded grouse might not have died all these days, and he goes on:
 "The youths soul was undergoing dc- velopment in that half hour. He was making one of those short cuts from point of view to point of view. He was passing, little as he realized 1t, from the barbarian hunter stage to plane Of broader sympathies.
 "All through the lesson he sat broodins the same thoughts and as he left the church the idea of the wounded chicken had taken full possession of his mind. ln- stead of going home he set out for the field where he had shot the grouse. He believed he might find the bird even yet. At least he would try.
 "A good memory and keen eye en- ab1ed him to go about the point of the field from which the grouse had flushed 1; and over by the cornfield he noted the exact point-marked by peculiar fence post-where the wounded bird had gore down. He went directly to it, and nd scarcely entered the cornfield when e.lis dog came to point. There ahead on the