FIELD AND STUDY 



There are more tragedies in wild life than come- 

 dies, and fear is a much more active agent in devel- 

 opment than joy or peace. The only two of our more 

 common wild animals that I recall, in which the 

 instinct or impulse of fear is low, are the porcupine 

 and the skunk. Both are pretty effectively armed 

 against their natural enemies and both are very 

 slow, stupid animals. 



When I stop to contemplate the ways of the wild 

 creatures around me and the part they play in the 

 all-the-year-round drama, my thoughts are pretty 

 sure to rest for a while on the crow. From the wide 

 distribution of the crow over the earth in some form, 

 it would appear that Nature has him very much at 

 heart. She has equipped him to make his way in 

 widely diversified lands and climates. He thrives 

 upon the shore and he thrives upon the mountains. 

 He is not strictly a bird of prey, neither is he preyed 

 upon. What is it in nature that he expresses? True, 

 he expresses cunning, hardiness, sociability; but he 

 is not alone in these things. Yet the crow is unique; 

 he is a character, and at times one is almost per- 

 suaded that he has a vein of humor in him. Probably 

 no country boy who has had a tame crow has any 

 doubt about it. His mischief -making propensities are 

 certainly evident. His soliloquies, his deliberate cat- 

 calls and guttural sounds, his petty stealings, his 

 teasing of other animals, his impudent curiosity, all 

 stamp him as a bird full of the original Adam. 

 118 



