42 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



for decades more or less. So I call him 

 an American, as he is to all intents and 

 purposes. I speak of Stedman's classi- 

 fications because I wanted to telJ a lady 

 where to find his "Make Me Over, 

 Mother April," and did not find him in 

 the group of American poets. Read this 

 poem of his if you wish to find Carman 

 in one of his choicest moods, when he 

 revels in rhyme and rhythm and daring- 

 characterization of nature, a wild sort 

 of Bohemian chant such as stirred his 

 blood in the young- days when he hit 

 the woodland trails and the open road 

 with Richard Hovey and g^ave the world 

 those wild, rollicking, careless, lawless 

 "Songs of Vagabondia." May he al- 

 ways renew his youth whenever he 

 chooses to hit the open road. 



married daughter, were all successful 

 authors. 



William Hayes Ward, 

 Honorary Editor of "The Independent. 



Tribute from William Hayes Ward. 



South Berwick, Maine. 

 To the Editor : 



Yes, Bliss Carman was for a while 

 office editor of "The Independent" 

 while I was editor and his companion- 

 ship in the office it is a pleasure to 

 recall. He was in his youth a tall 



blonde, with statuesque head and long- 

 hair and open neck : very quiet and 

 unassuming, dreamy, yet companion- 

 able. He was much with his cousins, 

 the Robertses, whose literary ambi- 

 tions had brought this exceptionably 

 gifted family to New York. It was 

 about this time that he did his tramp- 

 ing with his poet friend, Richard 

 Hovey, whose early death was a sad 

 loss to American literature. The fruit 

 of these wimderings appear in his 

 "Vagabondia," and he mentioned his 

 companion under the name of 

 "Dickon. Such poems as "The Quaker 

 Eadies" and the "Easter Market" at 

 Washington, very simple and delight- 

 ful, were not easily forgotten, and 

 ought not to be, although probal:)ly 

 they cost him much less labor than his 

 longer poems of which I mention only 

 the "Coronation Ode" on the accession 

 of King Edward, for he was a loyal 

 Canadian. "The Independent" pub- 

 lished many of his verses. Of course 

 he wrote prose, if not so much as did 

 his cousin, Charles G. D. Roberts. We 

 are indebted to New Brunswick for a 

 family of unusual worth. The senior 

 Roberts was an Episcopal .clergyman 

 of much distinction, and his three sons, 

 Charles, William and Theodore, and a 



Associations " of Plants and Birds. 



Dr. Arthur A. Allen, of Cornell Uni- 

 versity, in a paper before the Biologi- 

 cal society of Washington, recognizes 

 seven "associations" of plant and bird 

 life between pond or river on the one 

 side and field and forest on the other. 

 These are, in order : 



1. The Open Water Association. 

 Here the plants are important sources 

 of food but do not provide nesting 

 places for any birds. 



2. The Shoreline Association. This 

 provides little food. One of the few 

 birds inhabiting it is the pied-billed 

 grebe. 



3. The Cat-tail Association. Here as 

 a favorite locality for such birds as the 

 least bitterns, coots, and various rails 

 The red-winged blackbird, though 

 having a wide range over various sorts 

 of country prefers this belt. 



4. The Sedge Association. Marsh 

 wren, ordinary bittern, swamp spar- 

 row, and marsh hawk, are among the 

 birds of this district. 



5. The Grass Association, of which 

 song sparrow and Maryland yellow- 

 throat are typical inhabitants. 



6. The Alder-Willow Association, 

 with the green heron and alder fly- 

 catcher among nesting species. 



7. The Elm-Maple Association, where 

 dwell a large variety of woodland birds, 

 while several species nest here which get 

 their living in other regions. 



The commonest and cheapest sounds, 

 as the barking of a dog, produce the 

 same effect on fresh and healthy 

 ears that the rarest music does 

 It depends on your appetite for sound. 

 Just as a crust is sweeter to a healthy ap- 

 petite than confectionery to a pampered 

 or diseased one. It is better that these 

 cheap sounds be music to us than that 

 we have the rarest ears for music in any 

 other sense. I have lain awake at night 

 many a time to think of the barking of a 

 dog which I had heard long before, bath- 

 ing my being again in those waves of 

 sound, as a frequenter of the opera 

 might lie awake remembering the music 

 he had heard — Thoreau. 



