Z^^ Sa^ of tSft &a\xi> 



new feathers to take the places of these that are 

 missing. 



Well, why, in all this time, if these three feathers 

 are so necessary, has he not gotten them ? He might 

 reply, " Which of you by taking thought can add as 

 much as one cubit to your stature, to say nothing of 

 three hairs to the top of your head ? " By taking time 

 (which is a fine human phrase for giving Nature time), 

 and with the right conditions, you may add the cubit. 

 So the crow may get his feathers. It is not an affair 

 between the crow and his feathers, nor between the 

 crow and Nature. It is wholly Nature's affair with 

 the crow's feathers, and so seriously does Nature 

 take it, so careful is she, so systematic, so almost 

 arbitrary about it, that the feathers of crows, like 

 the hairs of our heads, can truly be said to be num- 

 bered. 



Nothing could look more haphazard, certainly, than 

 the way a hen's feathers seem to drop off at moulting 

 time. The most forlorn, undone, abject creature about 

 the farm is the half-moulted hen. There is one in the 

 chicken yard now, so nearly naked that she really is 

 ashamed of herself, and so miserably helpless that 

 she squats in a corner all night, unable to reach the 



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