Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 51.djvu/619

Rh notes he had at his command. Sweepstakes, as we named him, would sit on my shoulder or the rim of my hat, and chatter away with so much expression that it seemed the worst kind of stupidity on my part not to be able to understand everything he said. When he had gained the full strength of his wings he would come flying to me for protection from a furious mob of small birds which he had exasperated by his bungling attempts at hunting, and alighting on the rim of my hat go scrambling round and round it with a great rustling and scratching of his claws. When perched on any one's wrist or finger, he was always careful not to let his claws prick the skin, and was more thoughtful about such matters than the best-natured kitten in the world. He was especially fond of being stroked with the wing feather of some large bird, and was always uneasy if any of his own feathers were ruffled or misplaced. He would almost always come when called, even though not in the least hungry. Sometimes if he saw Jack, the white bull terrier, going about with a bone in his mouth, he would light on the bone and ride



there until he had eaten what he wanted. If it took him some time to get enough. Jack, who was a most exemplary gentleman, would drop the bone, and lying down beside it quietly wait for his very good friend to finish. But his very fearlessness proved his destruction, for he got into the way of flying across the pastures to a farmhouse half a mile away, and was shot, to the bitter regret of all who had known him.