He began to run around the trunk, looking outward at intervals, as though he intended to leap off and take to the thick woods.
The hawks did not allow him long time to make up his mind.

The smaller one swooped first, but missed the squirrel as before, driving him around the trunk.

There the frightened creature had scarcely halted, when the great hen-hawk came at him with a whistling rush, and sent him back to the other side.

The male bird had by this time turned and now darted with such suddenness and precision, that the squirrel, unable to pass round the tree again, sprang off into the air.

Guided by his broad tail the hawk followed, and before the squirrel could reach the ground, the bird was seen to strike.