Jean M. Thompson

“ Very hungry was Nemox by this time, so he began to climb the tree. At last he reached a limb where he could peer into the nest. He was thankful that the old hawks were away, for there were eggs in the nest. Nemox knew he must hasten, for a brooding hawk is never long away from her eggs. Flattening himself close to the limb Nemox crawled to it, and had just sampled one egg when, with a sudden, wild rush of whirling wings, the mother hawk landed right upon his back, digging her sharp talons into his quivering flesh, as he snarled and spit and tore in her grasp. ”

“ It appeared not unlike floating thistle-down, but it had come from the owl's nest, and was the last they ever saw of their enemy, the sly old ferret.
Up there in the dim shadows of the old red barn you'll find them all, and should the yellow beam of sunlight happen to dance across their dark hiding-place, you may plainly see the bat family. There they all hang through the day, looking for all the world like a row of small velvet bags, their bright eyes shrouded by their soft wings as they sleep, head downward ”

“ Back in the thickets of rushes dozed one lonely little loon, last of the brood of Mahug. Too young to venture forth upon a moonlight fishing trip, it cuddled down flat, its webbed feet beneath its scantily feathered body, uttering a plaintive little sound whenever it heard the old loons screaming out on the lake.
Because of these little lonely cries, the dark, fur-clad stranger who had been feeling its way alongshore, in and out among the tall reeds, paused, erecting its small ears, trying to locate the whereabouts of the sound. Long and lithe of body was the stranger, a full-grown mink. ”

“ Beautiful beyond description is the great Snowy Egret. Snow white is its exquisite plumage, that wherever it appears it lights up the dark, gloomy swamps and jungles with its purity. The beak and legs of the egret are black, its eyes a golden yellow, while from its back trails a wonderful long spray of soft, snowy plumes, which float behind like a white robe as it flies. These beautiful plumes are longer on the mother bird, and at nesting time she uses them to cover the baby egrets. ”

“ Peter Possum was in great trouble, for he had lost his mate. No wonder that he felt strangely lonely and sad. Most of the opossum tribe are noted for their love of family and companionship. Peter had been born and reared in the South, right in the heart of a great cypress swamp, an ideal spot for the home of any possum. Dark and lonely was the swamp jungle, with its tall pines and giant gum and cypress trees, beneath which lay trackless thickets of thorn and holly, while trailing in long, snaky lengths over all, grew matted bamboo vines and hanging mosses which looked like long grey beards. ”

“ Of course all the wood people saw the kind act of Kos-ko-menos, and it made a deep impression upon them; they marvelled, because the jay had been so rude to the kingfisher. It was nice of him to forget his mean treatment, they thought.
Down deep in a certain pool of the creek lived old Kenozha, the pickerel, dreaded and feared for years by all the inhabitants of the banks who swam in the water, or fished for a living. The sly old fellow had a cruel way of coming up just beneath them when they were in the water, and before they knew it he had nipped off a toe, a tail, or even a head. ”

“ Tony and Papita waited some time, but in vain; the father and mother egret did not come back to the nest.
"They don't come back ever, the big angel birds; but we go and look for them, Papita. You see, the little ones are so hungry; they die if we don't feed them." The children paddled up and down the swamp, searching everywhere, and finally found the old egrets—all that the plume hunters had left—just the two snowy bodies, from which the beautiful, long aigrette plumes had been roughly torn. ”

“ As soon as the young loons could tumble over the edge of their comfortless nest among the sedges, they made for the near-by water, and speedily began to imitate their elders, diving far down among the matted water-weeds and chasing minnows and little chunky perch, which they would gobble at one mouthful. At first Mahug and his mate watched the young loons, taking pains to give them diving lessons, and then encouraging them to take short flights, as soon as their wing feathers sprouted. Gradually the old birds left them more to themselves. ”

“ Yet beneath the blanket worked and travelled Star Nose. All winter long his trails ran just beneath the deep snow and in the spring, when the ground became bare once more, one is able to see all these blind trails for oneself. The first warm sun shone out at last. It was the beginning of the spring thaws; then the snow blanket upon the hill began to grow thinner each day. Already the great snowy owl had begun to think about a nest, and certain of the fur tribes had ventured to come out, at least upon sunny days, for they were terribly hungry after their long winter sleep. ”

“ Below, within sight, upon a shelf-like rock, a smaller bird, his mate, sat disconsolately upon the very edge of her dismantled nest, unwilling to tear herself away from two featherless young gulls, her babies, who would never stretch out their long necks to her for food again. They were limp and dead—the hunters had wantonly thrown down loose rocks and broken up the nest.
Although Silver Wing, the old leader of the gull tribe, felt badly enough over the loss of the little gulls, he was much older and wiser than his mourning mate ”

“ Like a great black shadow something flew across the strip of moonlight, and with a wild whirl of giant wings the old King Loon charged for the nest. Instantly his fierce eyes sighted the sneaking mink, then down like a perfect avalanche he came, snatching the surprised mink in his beak and soaring out over the water. Somehow the mink managed to free its neck and its sharp teeth met in the pearly breast feathers of the old loon. ”

“ Great snakes cut through the fern jungles like black whips, rushing on ahead of the scorching breath of the destroying flames.
Back of the larger, stronger ones travelled the less fleet of foot, the more timid of the wild things. Among these were the porcupines, Unk-Wunk and his mate. Most of them were headed for Balsam Swamp, for there, instinctively, they knew they would find water, because deep in the swamp lay Black Pond, a never-failing water hole, which had its source in many a mountain stream. If they only could get to the water then they would be safe. ”

“ Now the fisher had not chanced to select the best spot for his hiding-place, for at the back of the ledge was the home of Unk-Wunk, the hedgehog, who had been asleep inside all the time, curled up in a round ball, until, finally, Nemox had so crowded him that he became impatient and suddenly unrolling himself, just to teach the intruder better manners, he gave him a smart slap across his sneaky pointed snout with his dreadful quilly tail. ”

“ Strangely enough, although the cliff was swarmed with other gull families, each cranny bearing its nest looking precisely like another, never did a returning gull make a mistake or intrude upon another family.
For many seasons the gulls and their kindred had nested upon Lonely Island, but one year hunters discovered their retreat, and set up a temporary camp upon the barren sands. They had come to hunt for terns, killing and slaughtering them by hundreds, just for the sake of their beautiful, delicate feathers for which they were to be paid much money. ”

“ Gnats bit right through his tough hide; he swung his great head incessantly and angrily, lashing them with his tail; still they clung, biting and stinging his flesh until blood flowed. The plains stretched on ahead with no companionship in sight. Poor, lonely Mogul! For days he had not tasted water. If he could but find a water hole, he would wallow and rid himself of the stinging pests. That night he reached a small, brackish pool of water and, dropping into a moist place, Mogul rolled about until he had made a fine hole about as long and wide as himself. ”

“ All that summer Star Nose lived alone, and so he became a kind of hermit mole. Of course he was not so very happy; in fact his disposition had become sadly changed. So upset was he by the loss of his little mate that he felt disagreeable with everything which happened to cross his path. Sometimes, so fiercely jealous and full of hate was he that he would enter the subways of the shrew family when they were away, and when he came across a nest full of baby shrews would bite and kill them viciously, in the meanest way. ”

“ It was Tony who learned about it first, so he told Papita one night before they went to sleep, up aloft in their shack, where the stars had a way of peeping in through the board roof and winking at them.
"Those men with guns, Papita, I don't like," complained Tony bitterly. "They shoot all our birds in the swamp. Once I see long, white feathers. They're angel bird feathers, I think, only not white—no, all black with swamp mire. ”

“ Each spring they come back to this spot, the wood ducks, the bitterns, the teal, and the little blue heron family. Their flashing, brilliant plumage lights up the sombre darkness of the jungles, while their strident cries make the spot less lonely. Perhaps the little blue herons are the very noisiest of all. Wading in the water on their stilt-like legs, searching for minnows or crayfish, they are almost sure to have a quarrel if one of them gets a prize fish, and then what a clamour they can make. ”

“ Then all the furry tribes knew for certain that Kos-ko-menos had come to live in that spot. Many of them disliked the idea very much; they dreaded his harsh scream which made the more timid jump and disturbed their babies, it was such a horrid cry. The kingfisher has always been considered a kind of outcast among other birds. They imagine that he is uncanny; that is, because of his wonderful skill at fishing, and because he can dart into the water quickly and stay under a long time, so they think perhaps he is himself more of a fish than a bird. ”

“ Having found a choice place in a stunted cypress, the egrets soon set about their nest building, choosing a site about forty feet above the swamp. Very affectionate and loving with each other are the egrets; whenever the male bird leaves the cypress, on his return he makes such a fuss over his mate, greeting her as joyfully and tenderly as though he had been gone a week. In fact, the egrets are gentle, trusting birds, and have few enemies among the wild. The father egret does most of the hard work too, for he gathers all the twigs for the nest, which the mother egret carefully builds. ”

“ Oh, how delightedly did he quench his thirst at a beautiful, fern-grown pool. Then one day he discovered the trail of a lone wood-cutter and followed it for hours, because he began to feel lonely, and also was hungry. Perhaps he imagined that the man would feed him, as had his keeper. It was lucky for poor, trusting Lhoks that the man did not spy him, or he might have been shot, for the man would surely have supposed the panther was trailing him for its prey. ”

“ The woodchuck family also enjoyed sweet corn in the milk and, tempted by the moonlight, they had left their burrow to feast. Off beyond, skirting the edges of the tall corn, skulked a swift, fleeting shadow—Redbrush, the fox, bound for the chicken coops, or hoping to find a covey of quails or partridges sleeping in the edge of the wheat field. Back in a little creek which bubbled in places, broadening out into still, deep haunts for trout and pickerel, the moonlight found its way. Here and there you might discover the huts of the muskrats, mostly deserted, for the inhabitants were all abroad. ”

“ Mahug, like all his tribe, was a mighty diver and, for water-fowl, he had very fashionable habits, spending a portion of each year near the salt sea, usually camping upon some desolate island, fishing, swimming, and diving with thousands of other water-fowl, yet never mingling at all familiarly with them, or encouraging acquaintances in a sociable way, because the loon is a very solitary bird. So, when nesting time came, Mahug always went off as far away from the crowd as he possibly could go. Quite frequently he and his mate would fly thousands of miles in order to be exclusive and alone. ”

“ One might always rout out a sleepy hedgehog or two, if there chanced to be nothing better, for Moween knew the secret of avoiding its terrible quills and searching out the creature's weak spot without injury to her own snout. So while Moween rummaged about, waddling in and out among the bushes, snuffing and grunting as she threw over a rotting log with her great padded foot, Nemox, the crafty one, continued to watch her and think deeply. Very well he knew that the old mother bear had left her two innocent furry little cubs back in her den, up on the side of the mountain. ”

“ Out beyond the camp, breaking through the snow crusts, unheard, stole a huge, black, shambling figure, closely followed by two smaller ones. A great black mother bear and her two very young cubs, and she was heading them straight for the boys' sugar camp. The cubs were so young they had difficulty in keeping up with their mother, for they were tired. It had been a long distance down from the den, but the mother bear did not spare them, and kept nosing them along impatiently when they halted along the trail. Now if there is one thing on earth a bear loves even more than honey it is maple sugar. ”

“ HOW PORCUPINE RIDGE WAS SETTLED
The remains of a large camp-fire smouldered, right in the heart of a forest of giant spruces far up in the North country. It had smouldered there sullenly all through a long, summer day, being left by the campers to die of its own accord. By this time they were far away, striking a new trail through the woods. ”

“ One night a light frost visited the swamp, and the next morning the children came to the island, perhaps for the last time. They saw that the egrets were showing much excitement, flying back and then forth and screaming back to each other wildly, circling low over the children's heads, then darting up again, curving their long, graceful necks.
"Look, Papita! They like to tell us something—hear, they try to speak; they don't hear me even when I call; see." Vainly Tony tried to call the egrets to him. ”