New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-12-19
IN THE woods.
The Ways Of Men and Wiid
animals.

A LITTLE BROTHER TO THE BEAR; AND
OTHER ANIMAL STORIES. BY William J.
Long. Illustrated by Charles Copeland Emo
TWO LITTLE sAyAGEs ~, BY Ernest est Thompson o5
Doubleday. Page Co.
THE FOREST. By Stewart Edward White: Illus
trated by Thomas Fogarty. 12mo, PIP. ZIG. The
Outlook Company.
Mr. Longs new book is in the vein of those
which have preceded it; and If it is less delight
full than its forerunners it is perhaps because
the poetry and philosophy of wildwood observa-
ton grow little thin with much employment
Not that the book of Nature ever be eX-
hausted; but the student is wise who allows in
tervaIs for Illumination. If writing about Nature
becomes an Industry its end is easily foreseen.
Mr. Long tells US in the opening chapter Of
this volume that in his out of door life he has
tried to discover the unusual things-"the
thinps that mark animals Individuality
and he notes that the truth Of the strange Incl
dents he records here and elsewhere is con-
firmed by similar observations made by others
He mentions the porcupine that rolled down
hill for fun; the toad that learned to sit on
a cows hoof and wait for the flies at milking
time; the woodcock that acted its own
surgeon-thus:
The bird was acting strangely in broad day
light, and l crept nearer till 1 could him
plainly on the other side of the little stream
though he was still too far away for to be
absolutely sure Of what all his motions meant
AT first he took soft clay in his bill from the
edge of the water and seemed to be smearing
II on one leg near the knee. Then he fiuttered
away on one foot for a short distance and
seemed 70 be pulling tiny roots and fbres of
grass which he worked into the clay that he
had already smeared on his leg Again he
took more clay and plastered it over the fbres
putting on more and more, till could plainly
see the enlargement, working away with
strange. silent intentness for fully fifteen min
utes, while watched and wondered, scarce be-
lieving my eyes. Then he stood perfectly still
Tor fulI hour under an overhanging sod, where
the eye could with difficulty find him his only
motion meanwhile being and occasional rubbing
ana smoothing or the clay bandaSe with his
bill. until 1t hardened enough to suit him
whereupon he futtered away from the brook
and disappeared in the thick woods
had my own explanation of the incredible
action, namely, that the wOodcock had q broken
leg, and had deliberately put it into a clay cast
to hold the broken bones in place until they
should knit together again; but, naturally 1
kept my own counsel, knowing that no one
would believe in the theory. For years l uues-
TONED gunners closely, and found two who said
that they had killed woodcock whose legs had
at one time been broken and had healed again.
AS far they could remember, the leg had in
each case healed perfectly straight, instead of
twisting out to one side, as chickens leg does
when broken and allowed to knit OF itself
-. All this proved nothing 10 outsider
until last winter, twenty years after, when the
confirmation came unexpectedly. I had been
speaking Of animals before the Contemporary
Club, OF Bridgeport, when a gentleman law
and told me eagerly OF a curious find he had
made the previous autumn. He was cunning
one day with friend, when they shot a wood
COCK which. on being brought in by the dog
was found 10 have lump of hard clay on one
OF us legs Curious TO know what it meant he
chipped the clay off with his penknife and
round broken bone, which was then almost
heaIed, and as straight as ever. A few weeks
later the bird, had he lived, would undoubtedly
nave taken of the cast himself and there
would have been nothing TO indicate ANYTHING
unusual about him.
Many other wonders are described in this
volume the most amusing parsonage introduced
being K'dunk. the fat toad. whose appetite was
as extraordinary as his love for music
Mr.. Ernest Thompson Setons volume is dedi-
Gated to Woodcraft and It is a most beeuiline
exponent OF all that the term means. There &c
a slender trail Of story-just enough OF the eIe
ment Of human nature to bring into relief the
wild nature with which the author knows so
well how 10 deal The camping experiences Of
tho two boys who play Indian" on the edge of