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     Then a buzzard rose in front of him and flapped into the air. He came into the clearing under the oaks. Buzzards sat in a circle around the carcass of the doe. They turned their heads on their long scrawny necks and hissed at him. He threw his bough at them and they flew into an adjacent tree. The sand showed large cat prints but the big cats killed fresh, and they had left the doe to the carrion birds.
 
     He parted the grass at the place where he had seen the fawn. It did not seem possible that it was only yesterday. The fawn was not there. He circled the clearing. There was no sound, no sign. The buzzards clacked their wings, impatient to return to their business. He returned to the spot where the fawn had emerged and dropped on all fours, studying the sand for the small hoof prints. The night’s rain had washed away all tracks except those of cat and buzzards.
Explanation:
 
Jody had seen a large bird rise from the ground in front of him and fly away. He then neared an oak-covered area. Buzzards sat in a circle around the doe's carcass. They hissed at him, their heads buried in their long necks as they stared at him, and they flew into a nearby tree as Jody threw his bough at them. Large cat footprints were visible in the sand, indicating that the big cats had just killed their fresh just sometime before Jody arrived and the doe's carcass was left by the cats to be eaten by the carrion birds.
 
Jody searched the tall grasses again for the fawn he had spotted the day before, but it was nowhere to be seen. He couldn't believe the incident had happened only a day before. Jody searched the desolate area for any sign or sound of one, but couldn't find anything.
 
On the other hand, the buzzards made an impatient sound with their wings as they waited to consume the doe's lifeless carcass. Jody began searching for the fawn's footprint as he attempted to identify and follow the small footprints in the sand, but he was unable to do so since the night's rain had washed away all evidence except the footprints of cats and buzzards.
 
Meaning of difficult words:
 
S.No
Words
Meaning
1.
Buzzard A large bird that hunts and eats small birds
2.
Flap To move up and down quickly
3.
OakA large tree that produces nuts and acorns
4.
Carcass Dead body of an animal
5.
Consume To eat or drink something
6.
Scrawny Very thin which is not attractive
7.
Bough A large branch of a tree
8.
ScavengerAn animal that kills and eat other animals
9.
HissTo make a large 's' sound
10.
Adjacent Next to or near something else
11.
ClackTo make a continuous hard sound
Reference:
National Council of Educational Research and Training (2008). Honeydew. This is Jody's Fawn - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (pp. 86-93). Published at the Publication Division by the Secretary, National Council of Educational Research and Training, Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi.