THE RED COW 



if my attitude as a nature lover is entirely correct. 

 The bug probably enjoys life just as much as the 

 turkey, and I wonder if the bug should not have my 

 sympathy rather than the birds. But that is a deli- 

 cate point which I am willing to leave to professors 

 of ethics and other subtle reasoners. 



Although the roosters are apparently the first of 

 the domestic fowls to waken in the morning, they are 

 usually the last to get up, or, to be more exact, to 

 get down. When they start to lead out their pullets 

 in the twilight I have a chance to see that at least 

 one maker of proverbs was a close observer of 

 nature. I have heard it said of ladies who walk with 

 a mincing gait that "she steps out like a hen before 

 day." As I observe the hens through the tent flap 

 I notice that their gait differs from the gait they use 

 later in the day. They pick up their feet carefully, 

 and hold them poised for a moment before putting 

 them down daintily, and they hold their heads up 

 in a way that looks very haughty. The philosopher 

 who originated that simile must have been an early 

 riser, or perhaps he also made his observations 

 through a tent flap, with the blankets tucked cosily 

 up to his chin. But some mornings I make observa- 



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