t
all the descendants of the former have been bald-headed, while all
the descendants of the crow have black feathers to-day.

The Hawk and the Coling.

Narrated by Agapito Gaa of Taal, Batangas. He says that this Tagalog
story is well known in every town in Batangas province. He heard the
story from his grandfather.

Early one morning a hawk sallied forth from his nest to find something
to eat. He flew so high that he could hardly be seen from the earth. He
looked down; but as he could not see anything, he flew lower and
lower, until he came to the top of a tree. On one of the branches
he saw sitting quietly a coling. The hawk despised the little bird,
and at once made up his mind to challenge him to a flight upward.

So the hawk said to the coling, "Do you wish to fly up into the sky
with me to see which of us can fly the faster and the higher?"

The coling did not answer at once, but he thought of the matter for
a while. Then he said to the hawk, "When do you want to have the race?"

"That is for you to decide," said the hawk. "If you wish to have it
now, well and good."

"Well," said the coling, "let us have it to-morrow morning before
sunrise!"

"All right," said the hawk.

"But," said the coling, "each of us is to carry a load with him to
make the flight a little more difficult."

"Well, what do you want to take with you?" said the hawk.

"I will take some salt," said the coling.

"Then I will take some cotton," replied the hawk. "Let us meet here
in this tree early to-morrow!" This agreed upon, the two birds
separated. The hawk went to the cotton-field and got his load of
cotton, while the coling went to the sea and got some salt.

The next morning they met in the tree, each having the object he would
carry with him in his flight. They asked the crow, who was present,
to be the judge of the contest. The crow accepted the commission, and
said that he would give a caw as a signal for them to start. He did so,
and the two contestants were off. At first the hawk flew faster and
higher than the coling; but very soon it began to rain. The cotton on
the hawk's back became soaked with water, and soon was very heavy;
but the salt on the coling's back was soon dissolved, and then he
had no load at all. Under these conditions, the coling soon overtook
the bigger bird. For a time they flew side by side; but after a few
minutes the coling had the best of the race, and in a little while
longer the hawk could