Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-08
NATURE In AUTUMN
By D. c. PEATTrE.

distinguished diplomat in evening dress,
with eyeglass and ribbon crossing the
ruf1ed shirt, except that, in addition
to appearing distinguished, he also, like
the bittern and woodcock, looks q little
absurd while waddling about on his
stilted legs. It Is only in flight that
his true splendor Is apparent.
Weather Experts.
When the geese fly South, says the
| old countryman, my neighbor, you can
| tell If the Winter will be hard or gentle.
have been consulting him now
for seven years, and so far he has al
ways predicted bad Winter. Therell
be snow in November and solid ice on
the rutted country lands from Deem
Der to March. oh, yes; it's going to
| be . tough Winter. There1l be many
IN want, and some old codgers like
himself that will never see the dogwood
bloom again.
Perhaps it's So but when I called
his attention to the fact that, rela-
lively speaking, the geese 60 over at
that Is to say, this nonth-the old
countryman had q ready answer-the
climates changing, he said.
Everywhere I hear the same thing
the climates changing. The queer
thing Is that 1t changes in such spotty
way. Some people say we don't have
the Winters we used to have-fne, cold,
snowy winters, with lots Of ice skating.
| Others say Spring isn't what 1t used to
| be; you really don't have any Spring
/ any more; you just walk out Of VIM
/ ter into Summer; something's the mat
ter with the Summers, too. 81
Fortunately, nobody has yet sug-
| gested that Autumn is on the decline
(being the finest season in Northeast
ern Afnerica). Autumn, like business,
Is fundamentally sound.
The only living creatures that don't
appear to think the climate is changing
are the wild geese, and perhaps they
| are not the geese that we are. That
particular species of bird known to
science as Branta canadensis has al
ways seemed to me the quintessence OF
an Autumn day, the most natural thing
in nature of a feathered sort. A pea
cock is a bird, but it never seems quite
natural" Nightingales, parrots, whip
| pcorwills and auks are all what has 80
/ aptly been called Gods screechers.'
1 But ask you II you can love q whip
poorwill or If an aux really ought to bel
In the Canada goose, which ranges
over our entire continent, there comes
4 out Of nature its inherent wildness
linked with traces Of those tender o.
social traits that we love to think Of
as human-ndelity In mating, 0olic1.
tude for the young, bold adventurous.
ness, leadership, discipline, memory
keen sight, gregariousness, love Of home
and yet love Of warlderlust.
/. know no finer description Of tia
southwark flight Of geese in their 70.
nous flying wedge formation than thai
from the pen of the melodious Nuttall
writing century ago:
THE leader, ambitious Of his TEN.
porary station, utters the cheering and
reiterated cry; his loud but simple
clarion, answered by the yielding ranks
dispels the gloom of solitude through
which they laboriously wander to un'
certain and perhaps hostile lands
Bewildered by fogs, they Otter
descend so low and honk 90 loud as 3,
give sufficient notice of their approach
to the ambitious gunner, who thu
pours destruction among the alarmed
and confused flock. They also hear
or think they aear-a wandering com
!, panion lost from their cherished ranks
: They approach the object, and 1t 4
] but a domestic traitor of their specie
! or the well initiated cry Of the vii!
! fowler"