They started on, and before they had gone far George evened the score by shooting a rabbit. Then they came out on the shore of a sparkling sheet of water which the boys thought too large to be called a pond. It spread out on either side to far-off wooded shores, and in front apparently stretched away for miles toward a range of purple mountains. Ben said that distance judged over water was very deceptive, and that it was not nearly so far to the end of the lake as it seemed. He added that he did not intend going that far, for they would turn aside to a brook which flowed through some swampy meadows where there was a beaver settlement.
They had hardly launched the canoe when Ed spied a great, dark bird with a white head and tail sitting on the naked limb of a dead pine. Ben declared it a bald eagle, and then he pointed overhead to another bird, somewhat smaller, soaring about in wide, swinging circles above the lake. He called it an osprey or fish-hawk. He said, if they sat motionless and watched closely, they might see the eagle rob it of its dinner. For some time they drifted quietly along while the osprey sailed about on motionless wings. Occasionally it uttered a shrill cry, which the guide explained was its hunting-call.
The eagle sat gloomily on its lofty perch, with feathers ruffled and head drawn down between its shoulders. The boys thought it showed little interest in the fish-hawk; but Ben assured them it was watching every move the latter made. He said it was just pretending to be half asleep.
Then the osprey, with folded wings, dove straight as an arrow to the water below, and disappeared with a loud splash which sent a cloud of spray into the air. A few seconds elapsed before the tips of its wings reappeared, and its body, wet and shining, came into view. It flapped and struggled furiously to rise. The guide thought it had fastened its claws in a monster fish.
After much effort it finally rose heavily from the lake, and they saw a large fish twisting about in the merciless grip of its talons. Slowly it mounted upward and flew laboriously toward the distant shore.
“Look at ‘Old Sleepy Head’ now!” laughed Ben, pointing at the eagle.
It had risen to its full height, stretched its neck, and spread its wings. Then with a wild scream it launched into space and flew at the osprey. The latter immediately turned and began to tower frantically skyward. The eagle, screaming fiercely, was close behind it. They circled higher and higher, while the little party in the canoe looked on.
At length the eagle made a savage swoop toward its victim, and the osprey dropped its finny prize and darted out of harm’s way. Like a thunderbolt from the sky the eagle pitched headlong after the falling fish, which it secured before it reached the water, and bore it proudly away.
“What do you think of that?” asked Ben.
“I feel sorry for the poor fish-hawk; but I wouldn’t have missed seeing the trick turned for anything,” Ed replied.