128 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX 



Mr. Boardman sent a copy of this photograph to his 

 grand-daughter, Marjorie Boardman at Minneapohs, 

 Minn., writing her a pretty letter February 22, 1900, in 

 which he said : "I wrote 3^our father about my woods- 

 man who killed an old mother bear that had three little 

 baby bears that did not have their eyes open. They 

 only lived about a week after the mother was killed. It 

 was too bad to kill the old mother bear, but, I suppose 

 she had no business to have been a bear." No natural 

 history specimens which Mr. Boardman ever had pleased 

 him more than those cubs, as he considered them very 

 rare. 



Mr. Boardman was a naturalist of the old school and 

 employed the methods of the old field naturalists in his 

 studies and his collecting — "first shoot your bird." 

 But there was nothing wanton in his work. He was care- 

 ful and humane. Even as early as 1869 he deplored the 

 wholesale slaughter of the birds in Florida, killed by the 

 hundreds for their plumes and at that time was anxious 

 that laws should be enacted and enforced for their pro- 

 tection before they should become exterminated. Eater 

 our own laws for bird protection and the requirements of 

 a license to take birds for scientific purposes met with his 

 earnest and hearty support. Practical woodsman that he 

 was, as well as naturalist, Mr. Boardman knew the whole 

 art of woodcraft. He was used to camps and acquainted 

 with camping outfits. He knew all the birds of the woods 

 by their song, his favorite warbler being the Hermit 

 Thrush. He knew all about guns and dogs. In one of 

 his autobiographical sketches Mr. Boardman recalls that 

 in his early life the brothers, Henry and Francis Richards, 

 who came from England as agents of the rich Binghams 



