WILD PASTURES 



When I fed them I used to clutch some- 

 thing with one hand lest I fall in. And 

 I was incessantly feeding them. Anx- 

 ious to treat them kindly and finding 

 that frogs were a most acceptable diet 

 to them I depopulated the township of 

 Rana virescens and allied species. Then 

 I found that fish would do about as well, 

 and I fished until there began to be a 

 shortage of angle-worms in the com- 

 munity. Yet still the creatures grew 

 apace and demanded more food. 



By and by they got big enough to use 

 their wings and, recognizing me as their 

 undoubted parent, came flapping and 

 clawing after me wherever I went, yell- 

 ing, " Caw, caw, ca-aw-aw," in most 

 heartrending crescendo. Then did I 

 realize to the full the responsibility of 

 being a father bird. StufT those clamor- 

 ous creatures as I might, they still pleaded 

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