ISrONSUCH 



servations into static and dynamic. We can wait 

 for hours and days for the ghmpse of a bird, or for 

 the courtship of a spider, or spend a whole night 

 of the full moon in hopes of seeing a jaguar or a 

 yapock, not from the point of view of a man, but 

 from that of another jaguar or another water 

 opossum. This method is of vital importance, and 

 probably four-fifths of creative study of life histor- 

 ies must be gleaned in this manner. But there re- 

 mains a residue of technique which excels all: 

 one-fifth we will call it, because our poor, city- 

 crippled muscles and senses will seldom permit 

 more. It is the supreme achievement, the essence 

 of intelligent deduction, which, when successful, 

 brings to us a great feeling, never of conceit or 

 egotism, but of gratitude, of awe, at having been 

 permitted somewhat to enter into the very life feel- 

 ings and intimate habits of wilderness folk. 



A vocal bond is an unforgettable relationship. 

 It is probable that every creature which has ears 

 and can become audible, has some sound to which it 

 will react at once, and toward which it will im- 

 mediately fly or run or creep or hop. With the 

 miserable range of whistled or uttered tones which 

 is our degenerate heritage we can rarely command 

 or put this into practice. One of my first successes 

 was the master sound of the chickadee. One could 

 whistle chicka-dee-dee-dee-dee until Parus-perfect 

 and be rewarded by hardly a turn of the head. But 

 in an unseasonable February thaw, when one felt 

 spring and dreamed spring, but knew better than 



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