A BARN-DOOR OUTLOOK 



eye. The eye quickly detects objects in motion, but 

 not those at rest; this is the function of the nose. 



A highhole alights on the groxind in full view in 

 the orchard twenty yards away, and, spying my 

 motionless figure, pauses and regards me long and 

 intently. His eye serves him, and not his nose. 

 Finally concluding that I am not dangerous, he 

 stoops to the turf for his beloved ants and other 

 insects, but lifts his head every few seconds to see 

 that no danger is imminent. Not one moment is he 

 off his guard. A hawk may suddenly swoop from 

 the air above, or a four-footed foe approach from 

 any side. I have seen a sharp-shinned hawk pick up 

 a highhole from the turf in a twinkling under just 

 such conditions. What a contrast between the 

 anxious behavior of these wild creatures and the 

 ease and indifference of the grazing cattle! 



All the wild creatures evidently regard me with 

 mingled feelings of curiosity and distrust. A song 

 sparrow hops and flirts and attitudinizes and peers 

 at me from the door-sill, wondering if there is any 

 harm in me. A phoebe-bird comes in and flits about, 

 disturbed by my presence. For the third or fourth 

 time this season, I think, she is planning a nest. In 

 June she began one over a window on the porch 

 where I sleep in the open air. She had the foimda- 

 tion laid when I appeared, and was not a little dis- 

 turbed by my presence, especially in the early 

 morning, when I wanted to sleep and she wanted to 

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