DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WESTERN AND EASTERN BIRDS. 635 
St. Cloud, I have seen crows so tame that I walked within thirty 
feet of them with a gun on my shoulder, without alarming them in 
the least. The meadow-lark is as tame as the bluebird in the 
east, and sings familiarly from the roofs of houses in the villages, 
and the marbled godwit will let you walk up within. twenty or 
thirty yards without seeming aware of your presence. In the 
woods of Minnesota, far beyond the settlements, I have found 
hawks, Buteo borealis and Falco sparverius, scarcely more con- 
cerned at my presence within fifty feet, than the robin or bluebird 
in the Eastern States. But birds are quick to learn; the mallard 
and the prairie hen soon discover that it is dangerous to let a man 
approach within fifty yards, while the wild goose is very discrimi- 
nating as to the range of buck-shot and rifle-bullet. It is surpris- 
ing to see how soon birds learn this lesson. I knew a certain corn- 
field situated at the edge of a large wood in a recently settled 
part of Minnesota. Here the blue jays from all the country 
round were wont to forage, coming in scores every morning and 
evening. Undisturbed at first, they grew so bold as to remain 
quietly at work within twenty or thirty feet of a passer-by; till 
finding that they were destroying a considerable portion of his 
crop, the farmer commenced shooting them, killing them by the 
dozen for the first few days. In two weeks, the blue jays were so 
wild when in that field, that it was difficult to get within gunshot 
of them; while in the woods, half a mile away, they were as tame 
as ever; and while before they were very noisy and garrulous 
when in the cornfield, now they never uttered a sound from the 
time they entered it till they left it again. It took the blue jays 
only a fortnight to comprehend the situation. 
It is easy to see why some birds, as the hawk and crow, should 
be tamer in the frontier settlements than in the older parts of the 
country. Not being hunted as game and having few or no enemies, 
it is not strange that they should have the boldness and confidence 
which is the result of a sense of security and freedom from dan- 
ger. On the other hand, it is equally apparent that such small 
birds as the sparrows, thrishes and finches, continually persecu- 
ted by their natural enemies, should learn to be distrustful, and 
shun the approach of everything from which danger might be ap- 
prehended. But in course of time, the larger birds being de- 
stroyed as pests or for amusement become, in time, shy and sus- 
picious ; while the smaller, protected in a degree and less subject 
to the attacks of their former enemies, grow tame and familiar. 
