Songs of the Fields 



^^'orld teaches them so many painful lessons they 

 become Avild and shy as their elders. 



^Mien this young cotton-tail no longer felt the 

 need of the blanket his mother had raked her sides 

 to furnish, he trustingly came out to the big Molly 

 world and on a strip of bank posed for many Cotton 

 studies. He greedily nil)bled leaves, Avashed his 

 face when he finished, with all the care of a grass- 

 hopi^er, and then stretched himself for a sunbath. 

 ^Vhen his pictures Mere taken he was put with the 

 remainder of his family at the edge of the oats. 

 It must be that rabbits escape their natural ene- 

 mies with much skill, or else they breed in imtold 

 numbers, for every fall and winter men slaughter 

 them Avithout mercy, and each succeeding fall they 

 seem to be quite as numerous. 



Hunters say that despite speed in running they 

 ai-e silly creatures, and often sit 2>erfectly still, 

 trusting to the resemblance of their fur to sur- 

 rounding dry grass and weeds to protect them, un- 

 til they are killed. Not being a hunter, I can tell 

 little about these animals when pursued. If hunted 

 with a camera that is concealed and focused on the 

 moutli of their burrow, and a few apples, pieces 

 of cabbage or carrots, of which they are especially 

 fond, left around, they tame rapidly and take 

 many interesting poses. It is doubtful if there is 

 anything so wild that it is not susceptible to judi- 

 cious friendly advances. We read in the Book of 



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