Nature Books

WHAT species of mammals occur on the "coastal island", barrier beach, of Tamaulipas? Are the closest relatives of these mammals on Padre and Mustang islands of Texas, instead of on the mainland of Tamaulipas, or are the mammals on the barrier beach distinct from all others? These were questions that Dr. von Wedel of Oklahoma City and I asked ourselves in March of 1950 when we were in southern... more...

INTRODUCTION. Gilbert White was born in the village of Selborne on the 18th of July, in the year 1720.  His father was a gentleman of good means, with a house at Selborne and some acres of land.  Gilbert had his school training at Basingstoke, from Thomas Warton, the father of the poet of that name, who was born at Basingstoke in 1728, six years younger than his brother Joseph, who had been born at... more...

PREFACE This little book is but another chapter in the shy 'wild life of the fields and woods' of which "Ways of Wood Folk" and "Wilderness Ways" were the beginning. It is given gladly in answer to the call for more from those who have read the previous volumes, and whose letters are full of the spirit of kindness and appreciation. Many questions have come of late with these... more...

Our aim is to bring up to date the list of kinds of bats actually known from Barro Colorado Island, Panamá. In 1952 Samuel T. Dickenson, Marguerite Schultz, George P. Young, and E. Raymond Hall spent the first 17 days of April (except Mrs. Schultz who left on April 8) on Barro Colorado Island. On eight evenings a silk net, 30 feet long and 7 feet high with a ¾-inch mesh, was stretched in an open... more...

CHICK, D.D. Right in the very heart of Christmas-tree Land there was a forest of firs that pointed to the sky as straight as steeples. A hush lay over the forest, as if there were something very wonderful there, that might be meant for you if you were quiet and waited for it to come. Perhaps you have felt like that when you walked down the aisle of a church, with the sun shining through the lovely... more...

ON BOSTON COMMON.Nuns fret not at their convent's narrow room;And hermits are contented with their cells;And students with their pensive citadels:Maids at the wheel, the weaver at his loom,Sit blithe and happy; bees that soar for bloom,High as the highest Peak of Furness-fells,Will murmur by the hour in foxglove bells:In truth, the prison unto which we doomOurselves, no prison is: and hence for... more...

CHAPTER I: THE BLACK-BELLIED TARANTULA The Spider has a bad name: to most of us, she represents an odious, noxious animal, which every one hastens to crush under foot.  Against this summary verdict the observer sets the beast’s industry, its talent as a weaver, its wiliness in the chase, its tragic nuptials and other characteristics of great interest.  Yes, the Spider is well worth studying, apart... more...

I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute freedom and wildness, as contrasted with a freedom and culture merely civil—to regard man as an inhabitant, or a part and parcel of Nature, rather than a member of society. I wish to make an extreme statement, if so I may make an emphatic one, for there are enough champions of civilization: the minister and the school committee and every one... more...

In his excellent taxonomic treatment of the tree squirrels of Mexico and Central America, Nelson (Proc. Washington Acad. Sci., 1:15-110, 2 pls., May 9, 1899) recognized three subspecies of red-bellied squirrels, Sciurus aureogaster aureogaster F. Cuvier, Sciurus aureogaster hypopyrrhus Wagler, and Sciurus aureogaster frumentor Nelson. In his lists of specimens examined, Nelson (op. cit.:42 and 44)... more...

CHAPTER IV. Uncle Thomas introduces to the Notice of the Young Folks the Ettrick Shepherd's Stories about Sheep; and tells them some Interesting Stories about the Goat, and its Peculiarities. "I dare say, Boys, you have not forgotten the Ettrick Shepherd's wonderful stories about his dogs. Some of those which he relates about sheep are equally remarkable, and as he tells them in the same... more...