rd the cries of their little ones and
come to their rescue. They were chasing us, while we followed the birds.
It was really a perilous encounter! Our strong bows finally gained the
victory in a hand-to-hand struggle with the angry cranes; but after
that we hardly ever hunted a crane's nest. Almost all birds make some
resistance when their eggs or young are taken, but they will seldom
attack man fearlessly.

We used to climb large trees for birds of all kinds; but we never
undertook to get young owls unless they were on the ground. The hooting
owl especially is a dangerous bird to attack under these circumstances.
I was once trying to catch a yellow-winged woodpecker in its nest when
my arm became twisted and lodged in the deep hole so that I could not
get it out without the aid of a knife; but we were a long way from home
and my only companion was a deaf mute cousin of mine. I was about fifty
feet up in the tree, in a very uncomfortable position, but I had to wait
there for more than an hour before he brought me the knife with which I
finally released myself.

Our devices for trapping small animals were rude, but they were often
successful. For instance, we used to gather up a peck or so of large,
sharp-pointed burrs and scatter them in the rabbit's furrow-like path.
In the morning, we would find the little fellow sitting quietly in his
tracks, unable to move, for the burrs stuck to his feet.

Another way of snaring rabbits and grouse was the following: We made
nooses of twisted horsehair, which we tied very firmly to the top of a
limber young tree, then bent the latter down to the track and fastened
the whole with a slip-knot, after adjusting the noose. When the rabbit
runs his head through the noose, he pulls the slip-knot and is quickly
carried up by the spring of the young tree. This is a good plan, for the
rabbit is out of harm's way as he swings high in the air.

Perhaps the most enjoyable of all was the chipmunk hunt. We killed these
animals at any time of year, but the special time to hunt them was in
March. After the first thaw, the chipmunks burrow a hole through the
snow crust and make their first appearance for the season. Sometimes
as many as fifty will come together and hold a social reunion. These
gatherings occur early in the morning, from daybreak to about nine
o'clock.

We boys learned this, among other secrets of nature, and got our
blunt-headed arrows together in good season for the chipmunk ex