44 Clear Skies and Cloudy. 



of out-door incidents is worth the while to 

 print. It is true, an ever increasing interest in 

 a particular species of bird may make us a bit 

 careless as to painfully extreme accuracy, our 

 enthusiasm making every act and utterance of 

 rather more significance than the facts warrant, 

 but this, however much it is to be deplored, 

 is less undesirable than the cold-blooded an- 

 nouncement of the anatomist that a crow flies 

 and screams "caw" at all times and is as black 

 as the ace of spades. This is true, but is it 

 quite all of corvine ornithology? No one 

 doubts the cunning of a fox, and a crow is a 

 fox in feathers. It is the most intelligent of 

 all our birds, and I do not suppose any one 

 doubts that there is a great difference among 

 our birds as to their mental calibre. Perhaps 

 it is doubted. The world has groped in error 

 so long that now it loves the false even to the 

 point of idolatry, and truth is offered no kindly 

 welcome when it timidly appears. I am not 

 an omnivorous reader of books, and so speak 

 only for myself. I have gathered from first 

 hands that is, from the birds themselves that 

 some are quick-witted, others foolish, and occa- 



