Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-04-11

Observations on Duck and Human
Nature.


Nature.
Charles O. Abbott In The Continent.
s.What about tomorrow" asked Uz. "A we
stood on the brow of the hill and pazed over the
meadows at our feet, now partially yelled In
eflvery mist
Uz wet his fOrefnger and held It ND. looking
closely at the movement Of the few feecy clouds
above as he did so. After a brief pause he re-
piled, witt the air Of one we'll convinced OF the
truth OF his opinions: There II be southerly
rain and d1cSs"
word about weather predictions. am
compelled TO admit that have faith In the judg-
nent Of men Ike old Uz Gaunt when they pro-
nounce an opinion IA to the morrow or a dar or
two beyond: but he. like all other men fails in
the matter Of fOretelng seasons. Uz does not
Ike my e!eTring 10 the winter Of 1880 81 His
prediction, which he carly made known TO me-
was quite the opposite If what the season prov ID
to b.. He cOnsoed himself however. with the
earnest prot 81 that lie was never before mis-
taken. and that covers three more than ffty
years" since lac commenced solving the riddle
OF what the wi;.teTs will be.
''Natur n0ws WHAT'S coming" he has often
said 10 NE, and ratur gets ready for " inter to
suit the sort of weather it's gOin' to be-
This Is common Impression wherever i
have wandered. but it will not stand the test of
STATISTICS. Corn-husks, pigs spleens goose
breaSt-bones, squirrels, magazines OF nuts
muskrat EOuses-ali are relied upon by country
people but not Que ia trustworthy. Perhaps
the position of the dark and light portions of
the brea5t-bOncS Of -,.eSe-that is of geese
Matched the previous spring-is more relied
upon "a an Indication of the "Open" or cold
weather OF an approaching winter than all the
Others; but 1t cannot be Of any use, if for no
other reason than because in a number of such
bones reported upon by as many different people
There vas nothing like unanmity; aud strangely
enough, 1t yet an open question whether the
light portion of the bone is indicative of ''open"
weather and the dark portion of cold. or rice
res-sa What Originally gave rise to these vari-
Gus signs is we'll worth tracing; but it is not to
be dWelt upon here
Having wandered too far already let us take
back track and return to the hilton where
w IS stu standing. No man who. without any
precautions to book learning" studied nature
out of doors, probably ever exceled liz Gaunt
In correct impressions OF natures methods AS
sportsman, or "a gunner" as he called him
sell, he was success; for no one in the VI
cinty could excel him In finding game or in
bringing IL down This. however, never wor-
ricd me, for he generously gave me chances tn
Shoot. although | often failed to secure a duck
which he would surely not have missed But
w Kept himself al times when was with him
so busted about the movements of the birds he
sought ana was so Interested in determining
now nearly correct he had been I'm his calcu-
lations as to their whereabouts that he forgot
TO shoot when they were flushed. Not long
SINCE ne sculled up to a flock of widSeon which
We could not see but which he 'kDew' were
'just beyond that clump of alders" had
my doubts, and expressed Them but he was
very hrIn. They are skulkin' in there; now
see II they amt" he persisted: and So nearer
and nearer we drew toward the bushes His
gun, already cooked, lay in his lap and was
READY Up they jumped. sure enough. and |
got IN both barrels. Uz never thought Of his
gun, but exclaimed with pride II told you so:
knew it" 1t was enough for him to be cor
Feet i'll mis- opinion.
So. when the tomorrow mentioned at the
Opening OF this sketch came it proved 10 be a
warm, rainy day, with q sOutherly wind or
souti-Southeiiy. as he always called it, Bv
thls he meant that the wind might shift from
Southeast TO southwest possibly but at all times
Wouid be essentially -'sOutherly" UZ WAS
right in this and the rain came down in a
Steady pour, with now and then very brief in
PERMISSION, and the river was soon swollen to
The ireshet stage. The meadows disanpea;ed
beneath a cOveriGr of shallow waters. and bet
Ter than all else. the ducks came
E&riy III the morning of the fourth day Uz
and stood on the hilltop and took a general
survey OF the country before starting ont He
noted the direction of the wind the general
distribution Of the clouds at the time. and then
pointing toward the river. with significant
nod, quietly remarked :. / said So" / looked
IN the direction Indicated. and. sure enough, q
long zig-Zag line of ducks was coming up the
river. 'WidgeOn and teal he remarked after
D pause. and then made a move to 90 to the
boat / wondered how he knew they were
WIdEe0n ami teal. instead of black ducks and
sprig-tais. but forbOre asking: and ON we
walked until we reached the boat, light cedar
Skill. well trimmed with evergreens and lust
large enough to hold us both. II was a pleas
ant thing to sit still while UZ did the sculljnp
WIN scarcely appreciabe motion of the wrist
he caused the boat to move RAPIDLY vet nOjse-
1essly. through the water and in some way
past my comprehension. he knew lust where a
noch OF ducks would be if they tarried in the
overlooked meadows
This day ii was repetition of the story that
may be told by anv one who has scnlIed af.er
DUCKS. At times were too much for the
DUCKS. and. getting good shots brought down
several Then again the ducks were too much
Tor US, and were out of shot in spite of all Uz's
ingenuity and our united Carefuness There
Game a iuii in the DAYS occupation. however of
more interest to re than the shooting This
was when we hauled up for a lunch aud smoke.
1t met with US appreciation as well as my own.
and when our pipes were lighted | drew him
out as L had seldom done before II was
Simply glorious to listen To what | NAV call a
sdtafW naturalist. a man That lad read no
geological literature and never heard of OAR
win or Huxley
''1Ucks. il appears to me- remarked UZ as
ne gdzed at the pile OF dozen lying in the
boat. either have strong smack o. the human
abou' tneIn, or man has little OF the duck
about him."
'Why so?" asked ia sunrise. for u Was M.
Because they aye 50 cunning, and de- so
many things tina We d do liz the same situa-
fiOn- Now. there, the green mailards. They
VIII skutk III long green grass and keep their
heals moving with IL. Just 81 they can see Won
out you'd never mistrDst they were around
You don't see widgeon do the same thing
ihey ii pitch for some dead stuff hay or rub
Dish more Their OWE color"
. Bot ducks don t alw avs have these ehaneas ~
i protested, and when there's nothing but
water they We only an even chance"
That very true when were talking abont
TIE river, or some big lake: but I'm talking of
ducAs On these meadows. For something over
forty years I've shot over this tract and don't
Know about any other but by hearsay: but II
you want TO know what think Of our meadow
ducks, III tell YOU"
Well. Uz, won't interrupt again. and do
want TO hear all you've mind to tell me-"
Take en- for all I'm all, j." UZ continued, s'the
ssprig-tall IL the shyest duck we have, and I've
been outwitted more by them than any other
duck: but. dear mel there amt the ducks now
There was when was young man. I've seen
Thousand at glance On the lower meadows.
Wei, as 10 the sprig tails the last time I had a
F ~ a. g.