254 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



joyed the pranks that ice and snow 

 played by the roadside and afield, 

 and in these found more curious, 

 exquisite effects than I had dreamed 

 were possible. I searched many a stone 

 wall and cliff, fence rail and tree trunk 

 for lichens and mosses which offer 

 special attractions in winter. While 

 thus occupied I exchanged many a 

 greeting- of comradeship with winter 

 birds searching as intently as myself in 

 similar places. The wall stones and 

 various outcrops of rock with their re- 

 markable components, and evident carv- 

 ings and crumplings in times remotee, 

 led me to reflect upon the stupendous 

 forces which must have worked upon 

 them. In spring and summer the in- 

 terests were almost bewilderingly num- 

 erous. A hand magnifier, always with 

 me, revealed new worlds of delight in 

 tiny creatures everywhere. At various 

 seasons a habit of watching the sky 

 was rewarded by seeing a sundog, a 

 lunar rainbow, and wonderful displays 

 of northern lights, as well as by deeper 

 enjoyment of the more familiar pag- 

 eantry of cloud and constellation. 



Pursued incidentally to my special 

 lines of work, I have found physiophily 

 an inexhaustible source of joy and life- 

 enrichment, notably as bringing me in- 

 to wider sympathy with the work of 

 specialists in other fields than mine, 

 and thereby helping me to feel more 

 truly the relations of nature to human 

 needs. I am sure that good standing in 

 the world-wide fraternity of physi- 

 ophils must yield innumerable benefits 

 to any seeker for truth in whatever 

 realm. 



on the mountain or moor, without see- 

 ing or hearing someching worth going 

 for, and I shall never regret having 

 taken up the fascinating work of bird- 

 hunting with a camera — Oliver G. Pike, 

 F. R. P. S., F. Z. S., in "Farther Afield 

 in Bird land." 



The information possessed by a 

 country boy, gained by intelligent ob- 

 servation of the birds or plants of his 

 neighborhood, is viewed by the so- 

 called educated community as insigni- 

 ficant in comparison with that of 

 the college boy who can relate stories 

 from classical history of persons who 

 never existed and events that never 

 occurred. — Professor Joseph Leidy. 



Bird Hunting With the Camera. 



No matter which branch of Nature 

 photography the worker takes up, he 

 or she will always find it fascinating 

 work. It is better, I think, to specialise 

 in one branch than to turn your at- 

 tention to many different subjects. 

 The chief charm of Nature photog- 

 raphy is that it takes you into the 

 open air, amongst the flowers and the 

 songs of birds ; and it does not much 

 matter what time of the year you go 

 into the fields or the woods, there is al- 

 ways something fresh to be seen, and 

 Nature shows us something new when- 

 ever we visit her. I have never yet 

 been out in the meadows or woods, or 



Farther Afield in Birdlnnd. By Oliver G. 

 Pike, F. R. P. S„ P. Z. S. New York: 

 Frederick A. Stokes Company. 

 This book by an English author has the 

 genuine spirit of the naturalist as evinced 

 by so many of our English students of na- 

 ture. It is beautifully illustrated and the 

 text is very readable. We cordially commend 

 it to our students and readers. 



American Annual of Photography 1913. By 



a large number of contributing photo- 

 graphers. 57 East Ninth Street, New- 

 York: George Murphy, Inc., Sole Sales 

 Agent. Price: paper, 75c; cloth, $1.25. 

 This standard Annual, in the 1913 edition, 

 fully equals and excels former years. It 

 contains much valuable material in text and 

 has many beautiful illustrations. Every pho- 

 tographer and every one who loves beautiful 

 pictures should have a copy. 



The Spring- of the Year. The Fall of the 

 Year. Winter. By Dallas Lore Sharp. 

 Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 



These are good reading and good natural 

 history, well adapted for regular text-books, 

 or supplementary work in the schools. They 

 also are good for the general reader, old 

 as well as young. The author is a genuine 

 naturalist and a skilled user of the English 

 language. He has a vast storehouse of na- 

 ture interests and information and he knows 

 how to set forth these things in attractive 

 form. 



Literary Note. 

 "Bird-Lore" for December, a 160-page num- 

 ber with three colored plates, is filled with 

 matter of interest to bird-lovers, including 

 the annual report of the National Association 

 of Audubon Societies. The income of this 

 association for the year reached $60,000, and 

 the detailed account of what was accom- 

 plished with this fund in enforcing the bird 

 laws, guarding bird reservations, and in 

 giving instruction in bird-study to nearly 

 30,000 children was particularly encourag- 

 ing. 



