Other birds were caught and battled to get free. The one to which the machine men clung, pecked at them ineffectually a few times, and seized upon the bait once more as onrushing Ajirs came with clubs lifted. The bird flapped its wings, and with cries of surprise the Ajirs saw and recognized the four metal things they had found. They stared at them, entangled about the legs of the slowly rising bird. A swishing blow of the foremost brute just grazed a talon of the bird and left the wind of its passage upon 29G-75. Up they rose, swifter, as the broad wings of the Quar belabored the air. They soared higher, the plateau with its fighting Ajirs and Quari dwindling away into obscurity. They were soon among the peaks and flying above them. The machine men wondered when the bird would light. It was like riding upon the landing gear of a mighty airplane. The bird was carrying the chunk of meat to its nest, and they were glad for every mile that the bird was covering in the direction of the opposite mountainside. Yet, they hoped that its nest was not on the face of an inaccessible cliff. Soon, the other slope of the mountain loomed into view, and they enthused at the familiar panorama beyond. Professor Jameson could see, far off, the territory of forest into which the spaceship had crashed. Would the bird take them closer to that spot? It was too much to hope for, he knew. Chance on choosing this particular Quar had taken them far already in the right direction. Even as the professor turned these thoughts over in his mind, the bird headed for a rocky crag. There was no single nest here, but a continuous series of pits and hollows formed of branches lined with grasses and other materials. There were young birds in many of these--while others were empty. A few adults had already come back with food in the way of small animals and smaller birds. The Quar headed for one of the empty hollows and swooped gently to rest. That the bird had felt harassed in its flight over the mountain, by the four machine men, was plainly evident as the bird set down its piece of meat and bit viciously at them, sharp teeth grating and sliding against their metal bodies. A tentacle of 12W-62 became wedged between two teeth, and the machine man disentangled himself with difficulty. The professor and 6W-438 were wrenched from their self-made bonds as the Quar screeched, in rage. Talons freed the two more encumbrances from the bird's legs. Meanwhile, as the Quar continued in its efforts to bite the professor and 12W-62, 29G-75 freed himself and made a discovery. "There are openings in the bottom of the nest where we can climb through!" He was soon down out of reach of the Quar, and he waited for his companions to get free. 6W-438 was first to join him. An application of the professor's heat ray caused the screeching Quar to loose him and 12W-62 long enough for them to slide down through the tangle of tree branches.