DOMESTICATED NATURE. 



57 



It may suit still others, both in inclina- 

 tion and in facilities at their disposal, to 

 devote their spare moments to the fasci- 

 nating study of heredity, its influence 

 and control, as observable in the occu- 

 pants of the kennel, hutch or lofts of the 

 fancier. Into whatever branch of this 

 great work the fancy may lead if one 

 is possessed of an investigating habit, 

 he has an almost unlimited held at his 

 disposal, and his success will be meas- 

 ured only by his skill as an observer. 



The botanist must look to geology for 

 the ancient history of his work ; the biol- 

 ogist and fancier find many points in 

 common, while the zoologist and orni- 

 thologist alike have come to respect the 

 unclassified field lore of the farmer boy. 

 It is unfortunate that, in the field of nat- 

 ural history as it has become popularized 

 under the name of nature study, possibly 

 more than in any other semi-scientific 

 pursuit, there has crept into our litera- 

 ture much that is highly colored and 

 misleading. Injustice has been done, 

 and not a little prejudice aroused as a 

 result of the "yellow" nature journalism, 

 where imagination sees farther than the 

 eye, and ambition for notoriety is greater 

 than the ability to read the signs, or to 

 select the fancied from the real. Truth 

 is indeed stranger than fiction, and the 

 realistic interpretation of Nature's won- 

 der-works makes far more interesting 

 reading than the weirdly distorted nature 

 fable, supposed pen pictures by those 

 who assume to be past masters in na- 

 ture's school. 



Flowery rhetoric and soul-stirring 

 romance are not evidences of the writer's 

 nearness to nature's heart. Many an old 

 hunter and trapper who can with difficul- 

 ty write an intelligible label for his bale 

 of furs is possessed of a fund of nature 

 lore that would make a valuable addition 

 to our literature could it be put into 

 print. 



A magazine which, as a pioneer in this 

 work, did more to awaken interest in 

 nature study than any other of its time, 

 was the old "Recreation" when under the 

 management of that close observer and 

 popular writer, Mr. George Shields. 



It is not my purpose to advertise man 

 or magazine, and I do not even know 

 whether this periodical is still published, 



but 1 can say to the student looking for 

 rare and reliable information upon nat- 

 ural history subjects, that if he can gain 

 access to a file of "Recreation" 1890 to 

 i«)O0 he will there find much of value. 

 There is a growing demand for trust- 

 worthy popular literature by trained ob- 

 servers in all departments of natural sci- 

 ence, and if I might suggest a title 

 applicable to the need, it would be the 

 partly borrowed one of "Literary Di- 

 gest" of nature study. 



To illustrate this, let me say that while 

 recently writing about mice, I needed 

 information regarding the striped Bar- 

 bary variety of which little appears to be 

 known. An exhaustive search of all 

 known authorities left me still in the 

 dark, until I accidentally stumbled upon 

 an article by a lady who once owned a 

 pair of these curiously marked creatures. 



Like the professions of law and medi- 

 cine the field of nature is so vast that to 

 attain proficiency one must necessarily 

 be a specialist and do one thing, and do 

 it well. One may be an admirer of all 

 branches of nature, a lover of all crea- 

 tures on the earth, and in the water; but 

 it is impossible within the limits of one 

 life to become an authority as an observ- 

 er of all. 



To the novice in the field of nature 

 study 1 would say, see some of every- 

 thing when you are afield, but train your- 

 self to see all of something. If your 

 inclination tends to birds then determine 

 to perfect yourself as an ornithologist. 

 Note well their migratory habits, learn 

 to distinguish their flight at a distance. 

 Classifv your varieties, what to look for 

 in swam]), meadow and wood. Learn 

 that the oven bird's nest is not found in 

 the birch sapling as is the vireo's, or 

 that of the nuthatch exposed to view. 



Find if you can where bobolink spends 

 the davs of his molt, and why the snow- 

 bird appears with the snow. 



Why are the eggs of the bluebird 

 sometimes white but at other times blue, 

 and what is the pigment that tinges an 

 esfS: shell? Why at times do the black, 

 at other times the brown, feathers of 

 the bird become white? And why is the 

 albino canary yellow? Verily the les- 

 sons from nature's storehouse of wisdom 

 are not all solved. 



