i6o 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



martins hovering about the city, and 

 apparently assembling for the fall mi- 

 grations as is their custom. Each even- 

 ing the cornice of a large business block 

 on the principal street has sheltered 

 hundreds of martins, and the handsome 

 birds could be seen perched along the 

 telephone wires before retiring to the 

 cornice for the night. 



The increased numbers of these use- 

 ful insect gleaners is attributed directly 

 to the bird houses in the city. 



C. A. Leedy. 



Nest and Eggs of Sea Gull. 



Berkeley, California. 

 To the Editor: 



The accompanying print of sea gull 

 nest and eggs was taken on Bare Is- 

 land, one of the San Juan group located 

 in Washington Sound, Washington. 



NEST AND EGGS OF SEA GULL. 



Great numbers of sea gulls nest on the 

 island, that is really a large rock and, 

 as the name indicates, quite bare. The 

 gi.lls used to nest on the high cliff on 

 the south end of Waldron Island seven 

 miles south, but since man began to 

 quarry the rock, the blasting has driven 

 the gulls away, many now making their 

 nests on Bare Island. The nest was 

 found about forty feet above the water 

 on a small projecting ledge. 



The most interesting thing about the 

 nest was the chick picking through 

 the shell, as shown in the photograph. 

 Very truly yours, 



John E. Doren. 



"How I Made a Bird City." 

 This is the title of an interesting and 

 well illustrated article by Mr. Edward 

 A. Mcllhenny in the first September 

 number of "Country Life in America." 

 We take especial pleasure in recom- 

 mending to our readers his excellent 

 portrayal of the snowy heron. The 

 beautiful photographs are extremely ef- 

 fective and the text is sympathetic and 

 interesting. 



Nature Study in the Schools. 



The schools must prepare the child 

 to earn a living and to live his life. 

 Nature-study makes its contribution to 

 these aims and its contribution is no 

 mean one. Man wins his livelihood 

 from Nature and the ftudy of her laws 

 and methods of operation is essential 

 to intelligent progress. The contem- 

 plation of Nature has always led men 

 on into that thinking, that attitude of 

 mind, that larger life and broader vision 

 that make life worth the living. — Dr. 

 Elliot R. Downing, From an editorial in 

 "The Nature-Study Review/' 



Nature Versus Art in Color. 



Has it ever struck you how hard it 

 is to reconcile many man-made stand- 

 ards to God's great world of nature? 

 For instance, the artists, the milliners, 

 and the dressmakers tell us that cer- 

 tain colors do not harmonize : greens 

 and blues do not "match," and purples 

 and violets clash with both of them. 

 Yet lupines grow side by side with a 

 score of shades of green, and the blue 

 sky overarches all and harmonizes per- 

 fectly. One of the most exquisite 

 sights I have ever seen is the paloverde 

 in bloom. It is a tree common on the 

 deserts and elsewhere in this Great 

 Southwest land. Its "leaves" are 

 much like pale-green sticks, and the 

 flowers are the richest purple the eye 

 of man ever saw. — Geon^e Wharton 

 James, in May Life and Health, Wash- 

 ington, D. C. 



I often think, when working over my 

 plants, of what Linnaeus once said of 

 the unfolding of a blossom : "I saw God 

 in His glory passing near me, and 

 bowed my head in worship." — John 

 Fiske. 



