UNUSUAL EXPERIENCES AFIELD 77 



hopping beside the road and climbed from the 

 carriage to inwstigate. I knew by the bird's bill 

 that it was a finch, but further than that I could 

 not go in its identification as it had been com- 

 pletely immersed in crude oil, surrounding a well 

 inside the fence. I took the miserable creature 

 home, prepared a bath of Gold Dust in as hot water 

 as the bird could bear, and with extreme care 

 about the head and eyes, I tried to remove the oil. 

 Only those who have had personal contact with 

 crude oil can imagine what it meant to have the 

 feathers of a bird soaked in it, then liberally sprin- 

 kled with the dust of the summer highway. I 

 worked with all patience for the greater part of an 

 hour, and nearly as long in cleansing the wash 

 bowl afterward. I gave my bird a drink, some 

 food, rolled him in a flannel cloth, and tucked him 

 away for the night. His struggle in the oil had 

 been too severe, too long endured, the bath too 

 strenuous. In the morning I found that I had 

 been working with an indigo finch, which was now 

 extremely clean, also extremely dead. 



For fifteen years all of my work was in oil coun- 

 try, which gave me the invaluable assistance of 

 many oilmen in locating nests and working around 

 them. I was at the same time in constant contact 

 with crude oil, which is perhaps one of the nastiest 

 things on earth upon footwear, clothing, and a 

 working outfit, while in combination with a living 

 bird I know of nothing worse. Ordinary soap 



