22 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



Howard Henderson Cleaves, Nature 

 Student. 



BY WM. T. DAVIS, NEW BRIGHTON, STATEN 

 ISLAND, NEW YORK. 



We lately attended an auction of the 

 effects of a poor old naturalist and 



FLASH LIGHT OF THE CHILDREN AT A FRI- 

 DAY AFTERNOON LECTURE, IN THE AS- 

 SEMBLY HALL OF THE STATEN 

 ISLAND MUSEUM. 



among the things offered for sale was 

 the study skin of a male egret in full 

 plumage. It caught the eye of a 

 woman, apparently a milliner, and that 

 dilapidated bird brought a higher 

 price than some of the other skins of 

 more value. On the way home she 

 was observed showing her purchase to 

 a friend, spreading out the bird's 

 plumes on her hand and no doubt ex- 

 plaining what she was going to do with 

 her bargain. By this time it is prob- 

 ably part of the headgear of a woman 

 of the fantastical class in her efforts to 

 attract all possible attention. 



And why was the milliner so anx- 

 ious to get the egret collected so many 

 years ago? Simply because of the re- 

 cent laws and the public sentiment 

 still growing that brought the laws 

 into being, that prohibit the slaughter 

 and sale of these egrets. It is one of 

 the encouraging signs of the times that 

 the law makers saw more use and 

 beauty in the living birds than in the 

 dead ones, and so notified the fantas- 



AN UNCOMMON PHOTOGRAPH OF A 'COMMON TERN." 



Taken at Gardiner's Island, New York. 



Copyrighted, 1910, by Howard H. Cleaves. Copyrighted, 1910, by Doubleday, Page & Company. 



