WINTER 49 



and the like, did not long ago cease to ad- 

 vertise his whereabouts. Far back there 

 was a reason for his noise, or he would n't 

 have made it. It was evolved from the 

 grunt or hiss of some wallowing lizard, 

 his remotely great grandfather. Now that 

 he has taken to living with us, let us en- 

 courage him to forget it. They say that 

 evolution hardly explains the wonderful 

 adaptability and economy of everything 

 to its function. Why not? The most direct 

 is the most economic; and evolution never 

 goes roundabout. As soon as man got 

 fairly planted on his hind legs, his tail 

 shriveled and fell off. 



Perhaps, though, the rooster does not 

 want to evolve, does not want to be peace- 

 able, does not want to lose his voice. He 

 may take the same joy in using it that 

 Reginald McGonigle takes in using his, or 

 that the thugs do in New York when they 

 lift theirs in blasphemy and foulness, proud 

 of their ability to create attention, to shock 

 where they cannot win respect. Well, 

 there is a foundation Tightness in this evil 

 way of theirs. Old Adam is only the old 



