The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1899-02-28

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OBJ bird and always squsbblin' and cut
tin up. l see two catbird hab dere
dests part build; all de scantlin' done
laid, and when some bluejay begin to
start a INST in de same oak the catbird
carry off dere things to another tree.
Dey done knows dat de jay is thick
wild de old boy, and does visit wild him
every Friday de Lord sends
Every bush and shrub of the count
less kinds in the Southern woods has
Its individual meaning for the negro,
and the children learn the names ard
q OF the different species almost be
fore the white child has learned the
alphabet. They know where these
trees and bushes put out, whether
they have tassels or buds before the
leaves, and which kind is particularly
good for medical purposes, frewood,
Wagon spokes, tongues, house shin
giles, mallets or what not. The Picka
nlnny will speculate long on the half.
blotted-out track of a woods animal in
SA~ SSGS 0OAN VI UAO 4O00DOOS 6uu liz
will bring his companions to sit in
Judgment and give him opinion as to
whether the foot that made the track
belonged to a fox or a mink or other
creatures. These little woods men are
not without imagination, either, and
rumors OF bears long since extinct
crops up every now and again as the
result of somebody's seeing a track
that looked strange to him, and that
could not be fitted to any known beasts
foot.
In the inhabitants of the lagoons and
ponds the pickaninny takes unquali
fed interest. He knows where the
fish hide, what kind of homes they
have, the kind of bait most seductive
to certain species, and at what season
they are most likely to be hooked and
landed. As for the haunts of bait,
from the sawyers, working under the
bark of the pine, to the worms in the
loan of the swamp, and the minnows,
none have secrets from him. The
water fowl also he knows we'll, ferret.
ing out their secret haunts, and the
suspicion that an otter may be trapped
keeps him wide eyed in the night time
when sober heads are sleeping. 1t is
safe to say that no n of his prowls
and investigation may go forward
without danger Of snakes, but he neve
hesitates to give battle. The picka-
ninny keeps count of the snakes he
has killed, much as an Indian brave
re ckt MS the number of scalps he has
taken, and the boy who has killed the
largest number of snakes is looked
upon by the rest as head of the clan;
the slayer of chicken snakes, no viewer,
not winning so much applause, they
being kno Wn to be harmless.
In no denizan of water, earth, or air
does the pickaninny take such an in
terest as in the buzz9rd. Whether be-
cause of the weird ass )ciations con
nected with the bird, or the known
inaccessibility OF its nesting place, it
IS always a fruitful source of argument
and speculation.
Have you yer seen a buzzard's
nest7' Sambo is asked.
There is an affirmative nod.
"B .zzard does use de same nes'
every year and one day when US was
nuntin' de horse US come on de very
place"
DO they have their ne sts high up.
like hawkes."
mo, ma'am. Buzz ard, sails high,
but dey 1--we low. DIS nes' us seen been
cen a hollow log in de swamp, so tan
gle up wild bullus vine, and crooked
Gupelar, and bush, twist cen and out,
dat we never was find it but for ole.
Sally trapesin' off down cen there,
huntin' green cane to nibble, and us
huntin' for her"
Did you see the little buzzArds?'
Yes. Dey look same like gOelins,
ali sort of furry and yellow like. Dey
does turn black when dey gite more
ole. Only two egg in de nes', exactly
like a turkey egg. 'scusin' dey's more
bigger and de spots is yellower. We
been back dere tree times arCer we
see de eggs in de nes', waltln' for lem
to hatch, and nigh as we coald make
out dev was elk wee ks hatchiu'. We
always wait round till de hen buzzard
was fly away, to stretch her wings
when we was lookin' in de hole, but
once she came back, and de he BIRD
come along with her We had git
way quick, cause buEzards liable to
pick your eyes out if dey git mad, and
heat Won cher de head wild dere wings