The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-07-07


trived-when their squares and rectangles
are all in line, shutting out, each one, as
many as possible of the circles and curves
in which nature delights-to keep our
selves comfortable within these shelters OF
ours. OF morning, lately, tiny blue
lizard has made it his habit to climb to the
window-ledge of my cabin here in the hills,
and basking in the sun, to watch me at the
daily task of washing my dishes. The
operation seems to him full of the most
vital interest. He watches me intently,
turning his head from side to side, never
taking his bright eyes off me. When | am
through he goes off, and | doubt not he
entertains Nine Lizard by the hour with
his accounts of the doings of the queer
mammoth creature that is forever and aye
washing up, picking up, sweeping up and
casting out the litter and dirt and disorder
OF its own making.
/ watched pair of house tinches build
ing a nest recently. They worked silently
and swiftly, bringing little twigs and sticks
down from the thistle bed by the creek,
yonder, hairs that the horses had left on
fences and trees, few strands of MANILA
rope, UNFINISHED. with infinite pains and
cleverness, from the clothesline. When
the nest was quite mpleted, as thought,
the little hen began to put in the finishing
touches. She got into it, and turned round
and round, pressing her soft, feathered
breast against every bit of the lining,
smoothing out all the rough places, shap-
ing and packing it firmly. strengthening
and compacting the walls by the actual
impact of her loving little mothers heart.
Then with her bill she picked down from
her own breast, and tucked it into all the
crevices, wherever she could make it stay,
and went all over 1t again, smoothing it
against her breast. All, but that was true
home making-there could be no doubt but
that those cunning birdlings would be
warm.
We might be pardoned our elaborate
Queen Anne fronts and what some one has
called our Mary Ann rear walls and areas,
if we put half as much real heart and per-
sonality into the interiors as that little bird
put into her nest. But II we do not often
put heart and love and hope and tender
ness into our homes we make up for it by
the assortment of other things that we carry
in. 1t is wonderful the abundance OF things
the human curio manages to collect about
himself. There is no other creature except
the ant that is so given as we are to the
collecting of things. There is something
painfully human, when you come to con-
slider it. about the shelters our little friends
the ants rear. sat for over an hour this
morning and contemplated one of them.
The ants were of the carpenter variety,
and it was evident that they were con-
structing a village in the sand under q
sheltering stone. There was long stream
of toilers going back and forth carrying
building material. One huge fellow came
staggering under redwood beam over
half an inch long, others carried bits OF
straw, heads of fox-grass and tiny twigs.
These were all carried in at one opening,
while from another issued constant
stream of workers carrying little stones,
which they had loosened from the interior
and were casting out. Their strength was
marvellous / saw two of them bring up
and roll away stone as large as good
sized pea.
By and by along came an ant rolling,
Juggling, pushing and dragging a great
cIover-burr. With infinite toll she took
1t to the entrance and dragged it in. Less
than a minute later there was great
scramble and rush, scattering of dust
from before the entrance, and up came
that clover-burr. pushed by half-a-dozen
energetic ants, who carried it an inch or
two from the entrance and left it. At
their heels came very dusty ant and who
at once laid hold upon the burr and
dragged it back. She disappeared with it
into the nest, and almost Immediately
there was another upheaval and burr, ant
and all were again hurled forth. Then
the ants gathered about that unlucky
toiler. and am sure they must have been
expostulating with her. Two of them
remained with her for q minute
or more, feeling her over with their an
tennse. she must have been incorrigible,
however, for no sooner were they gone
than she rushed upon that clover-burr and
dragged it back. She must have been very
tired, for she rolled over with it several
times before she reached the entrance and
disappeared with it inside. had not
counted ten before up 1t came again, with