CHAPTER XXXV 



CURIOSITY OF BIRDS AND BEASTS BRUTES AS ART 



CRITICS FOOLED BY A REAL OWL VOICES OF THE 



NIGHT 



MANY birds possess a great deal of curiosity, as 

 everyone knows who has owned a pet crow. 

 One time when I was sketching down in Jack- 

 sonville, Fla., I was astonished to find two queer heads 



thrust between my face and 

 my sketching pad. The 

 tops of the heads were cov- 

 ered with a rough, red skin, 

 sprinkled with short black 

 hairs. They had long black 

 beaks, but I did not wait to 

 observe more. Instinctively 

 I raised my drawing-pad 

 and struck at the intruders, 

 with the result that I had a 

 race of two blocks, pursued 

 by two noisy and very angry 

 sandhill cranes. 



The birds were tame ones belonging to some citizen, 

 and their curiosity was excited to such an extent that 



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