128 



TWENTIETH CENTURY CLASSICS 



were they protected and fed during onr cold winters, would 

 soon become quite tame. They often nest near our dwell- 

 ings. In the spring of 1867, I was shown, on Owl Creek, 

 Woodson county, Kansas, a nest containing nineteen eggs. 

 It was placed in the dooryard, and not over twenty-five 

 yards from the house; several dogs were running about 

 the yard, and the house cat was purring In the door- 

 way. Fearing the eggs would be destroyed, I suggested 

 the building of a high tight fence around the nest. 

 ^^ Oh ! '' said the farmer, " that is not necessary; our cats 

 and dogs will not harm them, for they know them well; 

 as they have for a long time run about with the chickens, 

 and feed with them from food thrown from the door step." 

 I am confident if man was as friendly to the birds as they 

 are to man, that they would soon become thoroughly do- 

 mesticated. Trapped and hunted as they are, with dog and 

 gun, it is not strange that, as a whole, they remain timid 

 and mistrustful, and, were they not naturally birds of 

 civilization, would rapidly disappear with tlie settlement 

 of a country. As it is they seem to realize that man is 

 only at times their enemy, and that his cultivated fields 

 afford them a safe resort from their many other enemies, 

 and insure a more certain and bountiful supply of food 

 than found elsewhere. 



In tlie destruction of injurious insects, and the seeds of 

 weeds, upon which they largely feed, they more than 

 doubly repay for the few grains eaten prior to the harvest. 



Their flesh is highly esteemed, and to the wing shot a 

 most attractive game bird. When startled, rise with a 

 loud whirring sound ; in flight very swift, low, and direct ; 

 a rather laborious eifort, dropping back into the first in- 



