A friend of mine was following one morning a fresh rabbit track through
an open field. Suddenly the track came to an end, as if the creature had
taken wings,--as it had after an unpleasant fashion. There, on either
side of its last foot imprint, were several parallel lines in the snow,
made by the wings of the great owl that had swooped down and carried it
off. What a little tragedy was seen written there upon the white, even
surface of the field!

The rabbit has not much wit. Once, when a boy, I saw one that had been
recently caught, liberated in an open field in the presence of a dog
that was being held a few yards away. The poor thing lost all presence
of mind, and was quickly caught by the clumsy dog.

A hunter once saw a hare running upon the ice along the shore of one of
the Rangeley lakes. Presently a lynx appeared in hot pursuit; as soon as
the hare found it was being pursued, it began to circle, foolish thing.
This gave the lynx greatly the advantage, as it could follow in a much
smaller circle. Soon the hare was run down and seized.

I saw a similar experiment tried with a red squirrel with quite opposite
results. The boy who had caught the squirrel in his wire trap had a very
bright and nimble dog about the size of a fox, that seemed to be very
sure he could catch a red squirrel under any circumstances if only the
trees were out of the way. So the boy went to the middle of an open
field with his caged squirrel, the dog, who seemed to know what was up,
dancing and jumping about him. It was in midwinter; the snow had a firm
crust that held boy and dog alike. The dog was drawn back a few yards
and the squirrel liberated.

Then began one of the most exciting races I have witnessed for a long
time. It was impossible for the lookers-on not to be convulsed with
laughter, though neither dog nor squirrel seemed to regard the matter as
much of a joke. The squirrel had all his wits about him, and kept them
ready for instant use. He did not show the slightest confusion. He was
no match for the dog in fair running, and he discovered this fact in
less than three seconds; he must win, if at all, by strategy. Not a
straight course for the nearest tree, but a zigzag course, yea, a double
or treble zigzag course. Every instant the dog was sure the squirrel was
his, and every instant he was disappointed. It was incredible and
bewildering to him. The squirrel dodged this way and that. The dog
looked astonished and vexed. T