John Burroughs at 'Slab Sides' 5 



iu front of ni}' window. It came down within two feet of my face, 

 as I stood bv the pane, and paused a moment in its hurr}^ and 

 peered in at me, giving me an admirable view of its form and 

 markings. It was wet and hnngr}-, and it had a long journey be- 

 fore it. What a small body to cover such a distance ! 



The Black-poll Warbler, which one may see about the same 

 time, is a much larger bird and of slower movement, and is 

 colored much like the Black and White Creeping W^arbler with a 

 black cap on its head. The song of this bird is the finest, the least 

 in volume, and most insect-like of that of any Warbler known to me. 

 It is the song of the Black and White Creeper reduced, high and 

 swelling in the middle and low and faint at its beginning and end- 

 ing. When one has learned to note and discriminate the Warblers, 

 he has made a good beginning in his or her ornithological studies. 



John Burroughs at 'Slab Sides' 



^^OME years ago a favor to a neighbor resulted in Mr. Bur- 

 ^ roughs acquiring possession of a small 'muck swamp' situ- 

 ated in a valley in the hills, a mile or more west of his home 

 at West Park, on the Hudson. To Mr. Burroughs, the agriculturist, 

 this apparentl}' worthless bit of ground promised a rich return after 

 it had yielded to successive attacks of brush-knife, grubbing-hook, 

 plough, and spade. To Burroughs, the literary naturalist and nature- 

 lover, this secluded hollow in the woods offered a retreat to which 

 he could retire when his eyes wearied of the view of nature tamed 

 and trimmed, from his study on the bank of the Hudson. 



In the spring of 1895 the muck swamp was a seemingly hope- 

 less tangle of brush and bogs, without sign of human habitation. 

 One year later its black bed was lined with long rows of luxu- 

 riant celery, while from a low point at one end of the swamp 

 had arisen a rustic cabin fitting the scene so harmoniously that 

 one had to look twice to see it. 



This is 'Slab Sides,' a dwelling of Mr. Burroughs' own plan- 

 ning, and, in part, construction, its outer covering of rough sawn 

 slabs, which still retain their bark, being the origin of its name. 

 In a future number we hope to present a photograph of the exterior 

 of Slab Sides, with an account of the birds its owner finds about it. 

 Part of its interior is well shown by our photograph of Mr. Bur- 

 roughs seated before the fireplace, in which, as head mason and 

 stone-cutter, he takes a justifiable pride. Here, from April to 

 November, Mr. Burroughs makes his home, and here his most sympa- 

 thetic readers may imagine him amid surroundings which are in keep- 

 ing with the character of his writings. 



