Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-04-25
BIRD CALLS AND TRAILS.
Learned in the Language Of the
Woods and of Animals.

WOODS ana OF Animals.
From the Nashville American.
Everybody knows that the little darby
as he roams about the populous plantations
Of the south, is ragged and dirty and neg
lected in mind, body and estate, but what
everybody doesn't know is that he Is a
born naturalist ard gets as much fun and
genuine. absorbing interest out of the
woods and fields about him as the city-bred
boy derives from a s1.50 show. A stretch
of sandy road is a stretch of sandy road
to the average person; not so to the small
err hunter, who, while on an errand to mill
or store, traverses its rutty length
FOX been prowlin' yere! Dat fox foot"
says one looking critically at the imprint
in the sand.
Dat amt no fox; tits a minkr aflrms
another; and then all set to work to find
a palmer track that will confirm contra
dict their suggestions.
Dat are fox, an he went in Miss
| GiegePs yard after her young ducks
here's where he push 'em under de fence"
insists thu discoverer.
faint SO, faint so, tall" rebels his
companion; dat track amt nothin' but
Alince Fields yallar dog what come long
yere this mornin'," and so the argument
goes, every foot of the road suggesting a
whole combination Of possibilities to
| tive imag1nations.
whenever ditch. fringed heavily with
broom sedge. stretches across the field
chlldish figure or two Turk near, listening
eagerly for the welcome sound that shall
tell them trap has fallen. Partridges nest
| IN the broom sedge, sparrows, too, and
ooves, and all manner of winged wild
tninss. Traps made Of carefully selected
sticks are laid in ambush, little meal of
ground peas sprinkled within, and into
these snares unwary creatures are liable
10 walk unsuspectingly To contrive an
acme of these boys ambitions. When the
perslmmons drop plump and toothsome
from the purpling boughs, and the thick
rihds that protect the walnut, the hickory
nut and the chinquapin gap wide at the
touch or the frost. these little huntsmen
make their plans
Squirrels awful fat now de pecan tree
1ist a sheddin'," q lanky youth reminds his
| fellows. and forthwith they set about max
ing squirrel trap, or, in default of that
attaching themselves in body to the
lucky owner of gun to explore the fast
nesses of forest and field at his beck con-
tent at the prospect of being present when
the all-important moment shall arrive to
| take aim and fire.
The sweet. precise whistle OF the part
ridge Is we'll known to town and country
people alike, but to these small game-loy-
ers the peculiar infection and number of
notes In the whistle is significant of the
sex or the bird. ut look like dat rooster
partridge can't find he mate" it will be OBJ
served, as the insistent call sounds across
the field. when partridge is cen trouble
ne whistles dat fashion; all de other times
Wh1ppoor-will and all dem whistIin' birds"
Listen to dat chile hawk" one says;
sne $ got young ones near about some
where's, and in some inscrutable manner
they manage to keep their eyes on the
hawk and track her to the particular tree
where her nest is, the nest that she thinks
so safe from detection.
Great Is the jubilation when a rabbits
nest Is found with the tiny infants cud-
ding clcte in the shallow hole The news
SPREADS ike wildfire and poor bunny cow
er1hg somewhere near, tFembles, and with
reason. for her young Offspring
The very first time in his life that q NO.
gro boy has anything that he can call his
owl! ne swaps 1t for puppy that can be
framed 10 run rabbits, then he begins to
thlnk OF the gun lie may be able to buy in
the future. 1t may only be a common
gun, unreliable. likely to explode when not
expected, to remain obdurate and unre-
sponsive at inopportune times but never
theiess gun to be regarded with pride
ana cherished as pearl above price He
VIII hoard up small change for months and
months fer this purpose. The next best
tnihG TO a gun, however, is a number of
snreshots and various primitive contri-
Vancrs for letting fly a rock. pebble or
other missile. and if his possessions boast
none none or these, effective execution can be
done With a properly curved stick
AS 1t Is with the denizens of the fields
anu "oods so with the curious web-footed
Dirds that live in the marshes and swamps
Inc boys think nothing of wadinp NECK
deep in water to get a belated voung
iIarsH men, or even swimming across
stream to run down pair of fustered lit
of the way ~ e' ou'
A snake or lizard of any kind or descrip-
tion has a marvellous charm for the little
oackWcodsman; he is not afraid to attack
any snake. no matter how big and when
Ne mas vanquished him will linger on the
spo1 long, to study his color markings.
size and characteristics. If he can come
across a snake She'd" that is. an old skin
d -1a1
hight is unbounded, ard unspeakable bliss
attends the capture of live owl, no mat