The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-08-24
Nature Louers
Little Corner
BY AN UNDERsTUDY.

He is always fortunate who has been
able TO watch n bird or an animal
through some little performance in its
daily life, and when It IS completed
either let the creature slip away un-
alarmed. or quietly withdraw himself
with the confidence that he has re-
NAMED unseen to the last. But he
who goes into the woods 10 learn the
secrets of its creatures. to witness
the silent, unselfsh courage which Is
back OF the simple, unaffected lives
that without thought OF heroism live
and die nobly: doing their best in
worlds that are all part OF that
great plan which, moving through
the ages. Yields the universe, must
put himself on equal terms. so TO
speak, with these creatures. He must
understand. and 10 some extent obey,
their laws, that he may not put HIM
self in direct opposition to the very
things which ne wants to learn
In one of his delightful animal
stories Ernest Seton-Thompson sketch
ed the education OF a rabbit 1t in
cluded some of those general laws
which the nature student must know
so thorouChly that ne will obey them
almost instinctively. as the animals
do. at the slightest signal, the pre-
cipitate fall of a leaf, the mufled snap
OF a tw!g, the woodpecker's cry OF
warning, or the whirr OF partridge's
wing. Now the first lesson the little
rabbit learned was ITO lay low and say
nothing" The rabbits. who have alert
and plotting enemies 10 avoid, accept
both clauses.'of this law literally: for
us. we are chiefly concerned with the
last clause. In the woods is emphati-
callly not place for parlor converse
tion. Converse with nature is OF the
deeper kind which bushes babbling
human tongues, that through the pla Y
OF the senses our faculties of heart
and mind and soul may absorb from
natures stores unrolled before us
Laugh and talk at will as long as you
are In your own yard. but the minute
your foot touches the first dried leaf on
the threshold OF the wood. silence
should fall with perfect naturalness
NO announcement or apology is ncces-
sary. If your companions do not un-
derstand, then they are not true COM
panions.
The second lesson in the rabbits
education grew out of the first 1t
was freeze" which is simply doing
nothing, turning into a statue" If n
approach Of another animal he stops
all movement and keeps just as he is.
no matter what he IS doing. If you
see the animal first. freeze" and the
advantage for seeing what follows is
yours. But if YOU have not learned
the first lesson YOU will have lost
nine out of your ten chances to see by
freezing" because the creatures will
discover you first and take care that
you do not find them.
y big part OF the game is to know
where to find your subject the charac-
ter OF its haunts and favorite stu
atoms. Many people have found these
things out and written about them in
a charming way for both grown people
and young people. In the fall when
you begin to add to your library in
anticipation of the long winter even
ings indoors. remember that pleasant
reading. and \ incidentally valuable
knowledge concerning things that are
going on right around you, are always
found In the writings of Ernest Sc
ton Thompson. Charles G. d. Roberts,
Jack London, Jean Stratton- Porter.
Mabel Osgood Wright. Clarence
Hawkes., DR.. w. T. Hornaday. Morton
Grinnel, and more advanced, Bur-
roughs. Muir. Audubon, Thorcau and
AEassiZ