practical, sensible bird withal. Strong of wing 

 and mighty of voice, he was intended for a vig- 

 orous, untamed life, and even yet there is the 

 naked savage in his bound and his whoop. But 

 electric cars have come, with smooth-barked 

 poles, and these are better than rotten trees, 

 despite the jangle and hum of wires and the 

 racket of grinding wheels. Like the rest of us, 

 he has not put oif his savagery : he has simply 

 put on civilization. Street cars are a conve- 

 nience and a diversion. He has wings and 

 wildest freedom any moment, and so, even 

 though ]aeavy timber skirts the track and 

 shadows his pole, and though across the road 

 opposite stands a house where there are chil- 

 dren, dogs, and cats, nevertheless, High-hole 

 follows his fancy, and instead of building back 

 in the seclusion and safety of the woods, comes 

 out to the street, the railroad, the children, and 

 the cats, and digs him a modern house in this 

 sounding cedar pole. 



Perhaps it is imagination, but I think that I 

 can actually see High-hole changing his wood 

 ways for the ways of the village. He grows 

 tamer and more trustful every summer. 

 [120] 



