THE SEED OF THE TOC-TOC BIRDS

TALBOT had been working that day, far up in the Catalinas, looking over
some mining prospects for his company, and was returning to the
Mountain View Hotel in Oracle when, from the mouth of an abandoned
shaft some distance back of that town, he saw a strange object emerge.
"Hello," he said to Manuel, his young Mexican assistant, "what the devil
can that be?"
Manuel crossed himself swiftly.
"Dios!" he exclaimed, "but it is a queer bird, señor."
Queer, it certainly was, and of a species Talbot had never before laid eyes
on. The bird stood on the crumbling rim of the mining shaft and regarded
him with golden eyes. Its body was as large as that of a buzzard, and its
head had a flat, reptilian look, unpleasant to see. Nor was that the only odd
thing. The feathers glittered metallically, like blued copper, and a streak of
glistening silver outlined both wings.