growls, then followed a heavy plunge, there was a confused
fluttering of wings, and the great white bird rose majestically into the
air! Before either of the gunners could direct their aim, he was beyond
the range of shot, and both prudently reserved their fire. Marengo
having performed his part, swam back to the canoe, and was lifted over
the gunwale.

The swan, after clearing the sedge, rose almost vertically into the air.
These birds usually fly at a great elevation--sometimes entirely beyond
the reach of sight. Unlike the wild geese and ducks, they never alight
upon land, but always upon the bosom of the water. It was evidently the
intention of this one to go far from the scene of his late dangers,
perhaps to the great lake Winnipeg itself.

After attaining a height of several hundred yards, he flew forward in a
horizontal course, and followed the direction of the stream. His flight
was now regular, and his trumpet note could be heard at intervals, as,
with outstretched neck, he glided along the heavens. He seemed to feel
the pleasant sensations that every creature has after an escape from
danger, and no doubt he fancied himself secure. But in this fancy he
deceived himself. Better for him had he risen a few hundred yards
higher, or else had uttered his self-gradulation in a more subdued tone;
for it was heard and answered, and that response was the maniac laugh of
the white-headed eagle.

At the same instant two of these birds--those already introduced--were
seen mounting into the air. They did not fly up vertically, as the swan
had done, but in spiral curves, wheeling and crossing each other as they
ascended. They were making for a point that would intersect the flight
of the swan should he keep on in his horizontal course. This, however,
he did not do. With an eye as quick as theirs, he saw that he was
"headed;" and, stretching his long neck upward, he again pursued an
almost vertical line.

But he had to carry thirty pounds of flesh and bones, while the largest
of the eagles--the female bird--with a still broader spread of wing, was
a "light weight" of only seven. The result of this difference was soon
apparent. Before the trumpeter had got two hundred yards higher, the
female of the eagles was seen wheeling around him on the same level.
The swan was now observed to double, fly downward, and then upward
again, while his mournful note echoed back to the earth. But his efforts
were in vain. After a series of