236 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



ket making, and we have no desire to 

 initiate yon in the art, but to make 

 careful study of things that are natural- 

 ly fitting, pleasing and adapted to their 

 environment comes within the scope 

 of this magazine. We therefore pre- 

 sent with no little personal satisfaction 

 these photographic studies for your 

 careful inspection, and we extend to 

 Mr. Rezzo Waters our hearty thanks 

 for his kind permission to make the 

 studies. 



Nestlenook. 



BY CHARLES NEVERS HOLMES, NEWTON, MASSA- 

 CHUSETTS. 



Down in the woods where the brown thrush 

 sings 

 And whisp'ring winds through the pine 

 trees sigh, 

 There's a hidden glade where echo rings 



And sparkling brook bubbles blithely by; 

 A sun-kissed glade where the butterfly 



'Mid flowers flits upon gorgeous wings, 

 A meadow gay with the daisy's eye 



Where honeybee to the clover clings, 

 Deep in the depth of the woods where lie 

 Shadows from dawn until dusk draws 

 nigh, 

 Down in the heart of sequestered things 

 Is this hidden glade where echo rings, 

 A Nestlenook 'mid the pine trees high 

 Where whisp'ring zephyrs softly sigh. 

 — "Forest and Stream." 



Plants and Climate. 



Species of herbaceous plants, points out 

 Dr. E. W. Sinnott in Science, are vastly 

 more numerous in cold regions than in 

 hot. Thus, of the flora of the lowland 

 valley of the Amazon, only twelve per 

 cent of the dicotyledoneous species are 

 herbs, all the rest being shrubs or trees. 

 In Brazil, and the West Indies, a quarter 

 of the plants are herbs; in the Florida 

 Keys more than half. In northern United 

 States, Spain, Germany, Russia, and 

 Great Britain the proportion rises above 

 three quarters. Iceland, the Faroes, and 

 Ellesmereland all have at least nine-tenths 

 of their plant species herbs. The reason 

 appears to be that in a cold climate, the 

 species stands a better chance of survival 

 by passing the winter as a dry and resist- 

 ant seed than as a woody plant, so that 

 only a few, comparatively, of the more 

 hardy types can afford the luxury of a tall 

 trunk. 



For the same reason, following the 

 warm climate of preglacial days, there 

 seems to have been a marked increase in 

 the proportion of herbaceous species al- 

 most everywhere. 



3f 3 IDere 



^13 Von (£. Scttz, Cos (£ob, Conn. 



If I were old, I think that I 

 Would dwell upon some mountain high — 

 Where I could sit and look away 

 O'er purple peaks to distant bay; 

 And watch the sinking sun go down 

 Far from the clamor of the town. 

 If I were old! 



