re came an interruption.
It happened thus: A little farther up the glen we had another study, a
wood-thrush nest in a low tree, and every day, either coming or going,
we were accustomed to spend an hour watching that. Our place of
observation was a hidden nook in a pile of rocks, where we were entirely
concealed by thick trees, through which, by a judicious thinning out of
twigs and leaves, we had made peepholes, for the thrush mamma would not
tolerate us in her sight. To reach our seats and not alarm the
suspicious little dame, we always entered from the back, slowly and
cautiously climbed the rocks by a rude path which already existed, and
slipped in under cover of our leafy screen.

On the morning of the tenth day we entered the ravine from the upper
end, and made our first call upon the thrush. We had been seated in
silence for ten or fifteen minutes, and I was beginning to get uneasy
because no bird came to the nest, when a diversion occurred that drove
thrush affairs out of our minds. We heard footsteps! It must be
remembered that we were alone in this solitary place, far from a house,
and naturally we listened eagerly. The steps drew nearer, and then we
heard loud breathing. We exchanged glances of relief--it was a cow! But
while we were congratulating ourselves began a crashing of branches, a
fiercer breathing, a rush, and a low bellow!

This was no meek cow! we turned pale,--at any rate we felt pale,--but we
tried to encourage each other by suggesting in hurried whispers that he
surely would not see us. Alas! the next instant he broke through the
bushes, and to our horror started at once up our path to the rocks; in a
moment he would be upon us! We rose hastily, prepared to sell our lives
dearly, when, as suddenly as he had come, he turned and rushed back.
Whether the sight of us was too much for his philosophy, or whether he
had gone for reinforcements, we did not inquire. We instantly lost our
interest in birds and birds' nests; we gathered up our belongings and
fled, not stopping to breathe till we had put the barbiest of barbed
wire fences between us and the foe.

Once outside, however, we paused to consider: To give up our study was
not to be thought of; to go every day in fear and dread was equally
intolerable. I wrote to the authorities of whom I had purchased the
right to enter the place. They promptly denied the existence of any such
animal on the premises. I replied to the effect that "seeing is
be