The Marsh Is a Hotel 



THE COMING AND GOING OF THE TULE 



wrens served to emphasize what I had long thought— the 

 marsh was not to be compared to a human village where the 

 Wilsons, Smiths, and Browns married, raised children, grew 

 old, and died, to be replaced by succeeding generations of 

 Wilsons, Smiths, and Browns. There was nothing so fixed and 

 static about this area. 



Comparison of wild with human life not only is often un- 

 necessary but is frowned upon by scientists because it im- 

 putes conscious design to creatures considered incapable of 

 it. Of course the activities of the marsh cannot be exactly 

 compared to human activities. But there is sometimes a value 

 in superficial comparisons that not only entertain but bring 

 about a quicker and more intelligent understanding. When I 

 say that a marsh is a hotel, I do not imply the existence of 

 expensive structures to be used for that purpose nor do I 

 suggest that there is any kind of staff connected with it. But 

 it must be remembered that one definition of a hotel is this : 

 a place where transients may obtain food and shelter. If this 

 interpretation is accepted, our marsh is certainly a wildlife 

 hotel. It not only is adapted for the purpose but is constantly 



20 



