38 MY STUDIO NEIGHBORS 



was yet bigger by nearly double than the foster- 

 mother. What a monster this ! The " Black 

 Douglass " of the bird home ; a blot on Nature's 

 page ! 



As in previous instances, observing that the in- 

 terloper had a voice fully capable of making his 

 wants known, I gave the comfortable little beast 

 ample room to spread himself on the ground, and 

 let the lone little starveling survivor of the right- 

 ful brood have his cot all to himself. 



And yet, as I left the spot, I confess to a cer- 

 tain misgiving, as the pleading chirrup of the 

 ousted fledgling followed me faintly and more 

 faintly up the hill, recalling, too, the many previ- 

 ous similar acts of mine— and one in particular, 

 when I had slaughtered in cold blood two of 

 these irresponsibles found in a single nest. But 

 sober second thought evoked a more philosophic 

 and conscientious mood, the outcome of which 

 leading, as always, to a semi -conviction that the 

 complex question of reconciliation of duty and 

 humanity in the premises was not thus easily dis- 

 posed of, considering, as I was bound to do, the 

 equal innocence of the chicks, both of which had 

 been placed in the nest in obedience to a natural 

 law, which in the case of the cow -bird was none 

 the less a divine institution because I failed to un- 



