19 Destiny is on wing

Navigating now by the sight of familiar forests and rivers, she arrived home in three and a half hours and dropped into the one tree among millions. "Creee, creee, creee, car-reet," Frightful called. IN WHICH Destiny Is on Wing Frightful looked down on a snowy mountain. "Cree," she called softly to her nest box on the raccoon-proof pole. She recognized it under mounds of snow and ice and lifted her feathers in pleasure. Other familiar objects caught her attention. There were the stone table and log seats. They had been cleared of snow. Baron Weasel's den was still under the rock. The snow around it was stamped with his footprints. The water-wheel was there, but not turning. The millpond was ice. A feeling of

靠着熟悉的森林和河流辨认方向，她花了三个半小时回到家，落在了茫茫林海中的那棵树上。 "叽呀，叽呀，叽呀，嘎——" 福来福叫出声来。 这一章，命运已然张开翅膀。福来福低头望向一座雪山。 "叽呀"，她对着防浣熊杆子上的巢箱轻轻叫了一声。 哪怕被厚厚的冰雪覆盖，她也一眼认出了这里，高兴地抖了抖羽毛。 还有不少熟悉的景物吸引了她的注意。 那边就是石桌和木凳。 它们上面的雪已经被清扫干净了。 黄鼠狼男爵的洞还在那块岩石下面。 洞口周围的雪上留着他的脚印。 水车还在老地方，只不过没有转动。 磨坊池塘已经结了冰。 一股

contentment settled over Frightful, and she rested from her long journey. "Creee." Frightful looked up. Drum was overhead. He circled and called for her to follow him. Frightful sat still. She was where she wanted to be— home with Sam. Drum dove toward her, called again, gave up, and went on. He was eager to get to his aerie in the Adirondack Mountains. On a steep cliff his mate of last year had laid eggs that had broken under her weight. Pesticide chemicals had accumulated in her body and weakened the eggshells. A week later she died from poisons she had accumulated in South America from eating birds that had eaten DDT-sprayed insects. Drum must find another mate this year. Frightful swooped down onto the nest box. Snow splashed out in all directions. She jumped from the roof to the hacking porch, scattering that pile of snow. Leaning down, she peered into her old nest and walked far back into the cozy box. She picked up a windblown leaf in her beak. After a long stay there, she flew to the stone table to look for Sam.

满足感漫遍了福来福的全身，长途飞行后，她终于可以休息了。 "叽呀。" 福来福抬起头。 德拉姆就在她头顶。 他盘旋着，召唤福来福跟上自己。 福来福一动不动。 她已经到了想去的地方——有山姆的家。 德拉姆朝她冲下来，又叫了一声，见没动静只好放弃，继续飞走了。 他急着赶回自己在阿迪朗达克山脉的巢穴。 在一处陡峭悬崖上，他去年的伴侣产下了卵，可卵都在她身下碎裂了。 杀虫剂在她体内堆积，让蛋壳变得格外脆弱。 一周后她也因毒素积累死去，这些毒素来自南美——她吃了那些吞食过DDT喷过的虫子的鸟类。 今年德拉姆必须重新找一位伴侣。 福来福猛得俯冲到巢箱上。 雪花向四面八方溅开。 她从箱顶跳到孵化台，碰散了那堆积雪。 她俯下身朝旧巢里望了望，走到这个舒适小窝的最深处。 她用喙叼起一片被风吹来的叶子。 在巢里待了很久后，她飞到石桌旁寻找山姆。

The deerskin door of the hemlock tree bumped open. Mole came out. He bounced through the snow, tunneled through deep drifts, surfaced, and ran down the trail. Frightful flew after him, leaving her wing prints on the snowy table. She was hungry, and Mole, she sensed, was going hunting in the meadow where the rabbits and pheasants lived. She flew ahead of him and waited in the oak tree for him to arrive. He did not appear. Mole was tearing downhill to Mrs. Strawberry's farm for his daily treat from Alice. A whistle from the mountaintop never reached Frightful's ears, nor did the words, "Frightful! You're back. You left your wing prints on my table! Where are you?" Sam whistled the three notes that would bring Frightful to him, but she was out of earshot. When Mole didn't show, she took to the air. Her hunger reminded her of the courthouse cupola and the pigeons. She skimmed down the mountain and followed the river valley to Main Street. Throwing out her yellow feet, she came to a gentle landing on the courthouse cupola.

铁杉树上的鹿皮门被撞开了。 摩尔走了出来。 他蹦跳着穿过雪地，在深雪里挖洞前进，钻出雪面后沿着小路跑去。 福来福跟在他身后飞，雪桌上留下了她的翼印。 她饿了，而且她感觉到摩尔要去兔子和野鸡居住的草地打猎。 她飞到摩尔前面，在橡树上等他过来。 摩尔没有出现。 原来摩尔正冲下山，去往草莓太太的农场，找爱丽丝拿他每日的小零食。 山巅传来的口哨声没传到福来福耳朵里，那喊声也没听见："福来福！ 你回来了。 你在我的桌子上留下翼印了！ 你在哪里呀？" 山姆吹出能唤福来福过来的三声哨音，可福来福在听不到哨声的地方。 见摩尔一直没出现，福来福飞了起来。 饥饿让她想起了法院穹顶和那里的鸽子。 她滑下山坡，沿着河谷飞向主街。 她伸出黄色的脚爪，轻轻落在了法院的穹顶上。

The pigeon prospects were wonderful. Mrs. Dorst and her daughter, Ms. Sarah Denny, had fed the pigeons so well during the winter that they were already nesting and laying eggs. Without the peregrine falcons to keep them in check, they were so numerous that the courthouse windows and ledges were white with birdlime. Frightful had an endless feast before her. Her biological clock was ticking rapidly toward nest-scraping time. This put her in a mood to check nest sites. Late in the afternoon she flew to the Delhi Bridge and walked to her old scrape on the girder. She did not remember the noise of last spring, but her visual memory was clear. She recalled trucks shaking the webbing, men on scaffolds and cherry pickers. She flew back to the courthouse. A visual image of the cliffs along the Schoharie was the next site to check. She watched the sky for Chup. Molly came skipping down Main Street, spotted Frightful sitting erect and dignified on the courthouse cupola, and broke into a run. She dashed into the county courthouse building and found Leon Longbridge working at his desk.

这里的鸽子资源简直太棒了。 多斯特太太和她的女儿莎拉·丹尼小姐整个冬天都把鸽子喂得很好，它们已经开始筑巢产卵了。 没有游隼控制数量，鸽子多得泛滥，法院的窗户和窗台都沾满了白色的鸟粪。 福来福面前摆着一场吃不完的盛宴。 她的生物钟飞快倒数，很快就要到筑巢的时节了。 这让她忍不住想去多查看几个筑巢点。 傍晚时分，她飞到德里桥，走到梁上她曾经住过的巢坑那里。 她不记得去年春天的噪音了，但视觉记忆依旧清晰。 她记得卡车震得桥网晃个不停，还有脚手架和高空作业车上的工人。 她飞回了法院。 斯科哈里河沿岸的悬崖是她接下来要查看的地方。 她望着天空，寻找查普的身影。 莫莉蹦蹦跳跳走在主街上，一眼看见福来福挺直腰背、端庄地坐在法院穹顶上，立刻跑了起来。 她冲进县法院大楼，找到了正在办公桌前工作的里昂·朗布里奇。

"She's back," Molly cried excitedly. "The peregrine falcon of Delhi is back!" "Are you sure?" Leon Longbridge was grinning. "Definitely," Molly said. "Her head is almost pure black. Her breast is rosy white, and she's just beautiful. She's our falcon." They stood side by side on the sidewalk across the street from the courthouse. Leon focused his binoculars. "By golly," he said. "You're right. Not only is her head exceptionally black, but she's right in her favorite perching spot." "Will she nest there?" Molly asked. "Maybe. Falcons and most other birds come back to their old territories year after year," he said. "Some even return to the same nest sites."

"她回来了！"莫莉兴奋地大喊。 "德里的游隼回来了！" "你确定吗？" 里昂·朗布里吉笑了起来。 "千真万确，"莫莉说。 "她的头几乎是纯黑色的。 胸口是粉白色的，她实在太美了。 她就是我们的游隼。" 他们肩并肩站在法院对面的人行道上。 里昂调好望远镜望过去。 "天呐，"他说。 "你说得对。 她不光头特别黑，还正好待在她最喜欢的栖息点上。" "她会在这里筑巢吗？" 莫莉问道。 "有可能。 游隼和大多数其他鸟类每年都会回到自己原来的领地，"他说。 "有些甚至还会回到同一个旧巢点。"

"The bridge?" said Molly. "Will she nest on the bridge?" "I don't know. Peregrine females are unpredictable." "She has to. She just has to," said Molly. "That would be so cool." Frightful cocked her eye and focused on a speck in the sky. She bobbed her head. Chup was speeding like a crossbow along the edge of a cloud. He was a mile away. She waited. He went right over Delhi and the mountain, heading for his cliff in the Schoharie Valley. Frightful was in the air before Leon Longbridge could say another word about female peregrine falcons. "Chup, chup, chup, chup," the tiercel called. Frightful heard the peregrine love song. She caught up with him and flew at his side. They chased in and out of the misty edge of an ice cloud. But Frightful felt she was going the wrong way. Her mountain was behind her. She tipped her wings, banked, and started back. The west branch of the Delaware, the town of Delhi, and the one

“桥？”莫莉说。 “她会在桥上筑巢吗？” “我不知道。 游隼雌鸟向来难以捉摸。” “她必须来这儿。 她一定得来这儿。”莫莉说。 “那可太酷了。” 福莱特斜起眼睛，盯住了天空里的一个小点。 她点了点头。 恰普像弩箭一样，沿着云边飞速冲来。 他在一英里之外。 她静静等待。 他径直飞过德里镇和山脉，朝斯科哈里山谷自己的悬崖飞去。 莱昂·朗布里奇还没多说完关于雌游隼的话，福莱特已经冲上了天空。 “恰普，恰普，恰普，恰普。”雄游隼呼唤道。 福莱特听到了游隼的情歌。 她追了上去，和他并肩飞行。 他们在夹着雾气的冰云边缘钻进钻出，互相追逐。 但福莱特感觉到自己飞错了方向。 她的山还在她身后。 她倾斜翅膀，转弯往回飞去。 特拉华河西支流、德里镇，还有那座