There was one boyhood's ambition that did not fade, but grew with my strength; it 

 was to own a bit of land no matter how small, so long as it had on it a tree that I might 

 save from all axmen and on which the birds might live in peace. 



Here were rocky hills, sloping green banks, noble trees, birds in abundance, squirrels 

 in the woods, fish and turtles in the pond, a naturalist's paradise in truth and all was mine. 

 — Ernest Thompson Seton in "Country Life in America.'''' 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



EDUCATION AND RECREATION 



VOL II 



JANUARY, 1910 



No. 10 



"Wyndygoul," 

 Home of Ernest Thompson Seton 



BY EDWARD F. BIGELOW, SOUND BEACH, CONNECTICUT 



w 





ore 



ILD Animals I Have Known" 

 was an epoch making book 

 not alone because it depart- 

 ed from the time-honored 

 custom of depicting the 

 general habits of animals, 

 but in that it related the 

 life history of certain "dis- 

 tinguished" individual animals, and 

 furthermore because it was the first 

 book to make the study of nature 

 fashionable. 



After the publication of that book 

 in 1898 all else went more easily. Even 

 the work of the technical biologist 

 was looked upon with greater favor, 

 and organizations for the study of na- 

 ture prospered. Not only seriously, 

 but as a fad, nature study entered a 

 new era. 



It is true that the critics railed, some 

 naturalists said it was not true, and 

 many coveted the success ; but in 



spite of all edition after edition ap- 

 peared and the intimate affairs of na- 

 ture attracted more attention. 



In the life of the author it was even 

 more than epoch making. Heretofore 

 he had in limited circles been known 

 as a naturalist, and to certain pub- 

 lishers as an illustrator of various forms 

 of animal life, of more than ordinary 

 merit. Now he suddenly blazed as a 

 new star of first magnitude into the 

 zenith of the Pond agency, and to the 

 lecture courses throughout the coun- 

 try. Fabulous honoraria, rivaling 

 those of Beecher's day, were paid for 

 engagements. 



Writers of natural history looked 

 to the Seton articles as to high ideals. 

 Imitators arose from all points of the 

 compass. . Only among the illustra- 

 tors did he still stand peerless and 

 alone, for the simple reason that his 

 delicate and skillful touches with the 



Copyright 1010 by The Agassiz Association. Arcadia. Sound Beach. Conn. 



