The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1909-12-24
THE VULTURE

Has it ever occurred TO you that the
law Of compensation is illustrated per
fectly in the case of the obscene, I'm
calmly buzzard?
Think Of it a moment. He has nc
enemies; envy, jealousy, unreasoning
prejudice. aim no poisoned shafts at
him; no other bird wants his job, and
he himself is cOntented with it.
True, he has no friends, but he
doesn't appear to need any. He is
perfectly independent-and he knows
that as long as the world lives. he
will have q home; and that as long
as death endWes he will have enough
to eat. As TO wearing apparel, his re-
main on the free list. He bothers no.
body's business, and nobody bothers
his. OF all creation, he enjoys the
exclusive luxury of being left alone.
| Look upward into the heavens
above you, some sunny day Of sum-
mer-away up yOnder, almost out of
sight, there is the buzzard, circling
slowly, steadily, serenely around; the
only unconcerned living creature that
your eyes can perceive.
The other birds are all uneasy
about something. They all have enc
mics. The law Of their lives is eter-
nal vigilance. They dare not feed,
or battle, or fly, or perch without
scanning narrowly the surroundings.
in which may Turk the snake. the
hawk, the cat. They live in constant
fear; they start at every sound. Their |
foes are legion; and after a harrass-
ing day of continual peril and narrow
escapes, the owl or coon or 'possum
or rat may clutch them where they
roost at night.
Not 50 the vulture He hasn't q |
care or a fear on his mind. He sails
composedly through the cerulean sea.
loftily secure.
There are the beasts Of the field
they all have their enemies. their anx-
ieties, their conflicts. Lion assaiIs
lion, tigers rend tigers, serpents bat
tie with serpentS. the great stolid OK
shiYers with fright when he sees the
eyes Of the snake in tie
grass, torturing swarms of insects
pursue to madness the helpless quad Il
rupeds; the hog devours the kid and {
the lamb; and the wolf, the bear, the {
fox and the man devour the hog. II
Throughout all animated nature. Ii
the strife is incessant. Natures laws u
-inexorable and universal and un- t
angeable-make the weak the food
Oh the strong, makes the stomach an a
unsuitable sepulchre, sends the resist. I
less roots of life deep down into the L
fertile soil Of death. a
Not so the buzzard. Nothing feeds
IN him-he feeds upon everything. He S
Doesn't have to work for a living. nor a
talk his prey, nor swoop hawk-like Il
or his dinner of quail or his supper L.
4 spring chicken. He doesn't have to s.
rawl on his belly and serpentine his b
way over meadow and fallowfield, on
he hunt for mice, or bird-eggs. or
Dung rabbits, or nestlings.
No, indeed. Others provide his il
BOD. Sailing peacefully, evenly, with dl
III visible beat of wing, floating with Ell
o apparent effort, circling in fixed sc
rbit as though he were himself some ii
lack-sheep member of the distant W
vulture bides his dc
me. He isn't worried about anv. sc
ing. Where his next meal will come so
ON is matter Of no disquieting con. &C
'quence. He knows that it will tn
he sails, round and round tn
fathomless, shoreless, radiant gu
a ed
consider the ocean and they that Ed
yell within it; can you find security de
ID peace and rest? From the TIM. KIN
mullet to the monsters of the deem we
ere is war-unending, merciless agl
IT. Never will you put your eyes in
on the fish that isn't nervous she
tchful, In dread Of the enemy. New int
will you find one that isn't afraid res
erlastlng caution, eternal effort Ad
lseiess activity-is the price he for
Is 70 live. In those treacherous
'ths what battles rage, what massa.
s take place, what ferocities of at fac
K and pursuit, what agonies of MOI
Mt or defense there are, What an.
Sh of fllfiIo ofPort a., =. II