Nature Books

CHAPTER I THE SUBJECT AND THE POINT OF VIEW I submit in the following pages a proposition and a proposal—a distinction which an old-country writer of English may, perhaps, be permitted to preserve. The proposition is that, in the United States, as in other English-speaking communities, the city has been developed to the neglect of the country. I shall not have to labour the argument, as nobody... more...

BRIEF FOREWORD With sincere pleasure the author would acknowledge the uniform courtesy of editors and publishers in permitting him to reprint many of the articles comprised in this volume, from the various periodicals in which they first appeared. He also desires to express his special indebtedness to Mr. Charles E. Aiken, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, whose contributions to the ornithology of the... more...

The present list is intended to include all birds which have been so far proven to occur in British Columbia. I am fully aware of its incompleteness, and very much regret much of its lack of more definite information regarding the distribution of certain species, and with regard to that portion of the Province in north and northeastern interior, which, I have no doubt, is a valuable field for work.... more...

CHAPTER ONE HOW OUR FIRST ANCESTORS LIVED Before these fields were shorn and tilledFull to the brim our rivers flowed;The melody of waters filledThe fresh and boundless woods;And torrents dashed, and rivulets play'd,The fountains spouted in the shade. William Cullen Bryant,quoted in American Forestry, XIV. 520 The earth is our home. It is a great treasure house filled with the most wonderful... more...

SECTION I. In discussions of pathological conditions contributing to lameness in the horse, cause is generally classified under two heads—predisposing and exciting. It becomes necessary, however, to adopt a more general and comprehensive method of classification, herein, which will enable the reader to obtain a better conception of the subject and to more clearly associate the parts so grouped... more...

THE BLUE JAY. URING about three-fourths of the year the American Jay is an extremely tame, noisy and even obstrusive bird in its habits. As the breeding season approaches he suddenly becomes silent, preparing the nest in the most secluded parts of his native forests, and exercising all his cunning to keep it concealed. He is omniverous but is especially fond of eggs and young birds. The Jay may be... more...

olitude! Where under trees and sky shall you find it? The more solitary the recluse and the more confirmed and grounded his seclusion, the wider and more familiar becomes the circle of his social environment, until at length, like a very dryad of old, the birds build and sing in his branches and the "wee wild beasties" nest in his pockets. If he fails to be aware of the fact, more's the... more...

PREFACE. The primary object of the present work, is to give as correct and comprehensive a view of the animals composing the Ox Tribe, as the present state of our knowledge will admit, accompanied by authentic figures of all the known species and the more remarkable varieties. Although this genus (comprising all those Ruminants called Buffaloes, Bisons, and Oxen generally,) is as distinct and well... more...

INTRODUCTION. In the following pages is given a brief history of the disastrous flood which occurred in the Passaic River Basin in October, 1903. In the report by George Buell Hollister and the writer, entitled "The Passaic Flood of 1902," and published by the United States Geological Survey as Water-Supply and Irrigation Paper No. 88, are discussed the principal physiographic features of the... more...

JOHN JAMES AUDUBON. OHN JAMES AUDUBON has always been a favorite with the writer, for the invincibleness of his love of Nature and of birds is only equalled by the spontaneous freshness of his style, springing from an affectionate and joyous nature. Recently there was found by accident, in an old calf-skin bound volume, an autobiography of the naturalist. It is entitled “Audubon’s Story of his... more...