The Audubon Societies 121 



child, he was scarcely the one to be selected for the strenuous pursuit of nature 

 with which we are now familiar and which has added fame to his attainments. 

 He reached out and won health and an abounding life by seeking the true 

 approach to the world about him. Most of his admirers who are acquainted 

 with him only through his books should not overlook the fact that among his 

 earliest nature studies is an annotated list of the birds which he identified 

 about his home at Oyster Bay, Long Island, a brief bulletin of a few pages, in 

 which, however, the bird-lover traces his eager observation of what was actually 

 to be discovered within the limits of his home-estate. High up on a north- 

 shore bluff, overlooking the Sound and two of its main inlets. Oyster Bay and 

 Cold Spring Harbor, with the bold promontory of Lloyd's Neck directly to the 

 east, and the lowland of Center Island curving irregularly to the north. Saga- 

 more Hill has a commanding and unusually beautiful outlook upon nature, 

 while to the south, through the winding paths of wooded areas so familiar to 

 Mr. Roosevelt, afoot or on horseback, the charm of almost primeval forests 

 still lingers, despite the sad inroads of the chestnut fungus disease which has 

 killed so many noble trees, and wartime necessity that has caused the felhng 

 of gian' walnuts and stately white oaks. Here, if anywhere, one must love 

 nature for what she has to show the truthful observer, and it is fine to recall 

 that Mr. Roosevelt chose to keep his estate in its natural condition of wild 

 loveliness rather than to convert it into a show place of artificial beauty. 



He had keen joy in the companionship of the common Sparrows in his 

 fields and of the Screech Owl which at dusk commonly flitted near his porch, 

 in the discovery of the Black-throated Green Warbler, of whose identity as a 

 summer resident at this point on Long Island he felt certain, in the migratory 

 movements of the Fish Crow and the late appearance of a straggling Black- 

 crowned Night Heron, simple facts in themselves, based upon true observa- 

 tions, but facts which were woven into his daily life, giving it true focus and 

 constant enjoyment. 



It is such a grasp of nature that I plead may be made possible to our boys 

 and girls, and especially to those who must depend largely upon books about 

 nature, since the outdoor world is paved beneath ^their feet and walled from 

 their eyes in our large cities. — A. H. W. 



BIRD AND ARBOR DAY THOUGHTS 



THE TREES OF ENGLAND 



"The trees of Kngland! While she hath her trees 

 She hath ^reat virtues still! While formal yews 

 Guard her trim gardens, she can never lose 

 Homes for her scholars, men of learned ease. 

 • And while her pines stand stark against blue seas 



Murmuring of yet l)luer seas to cruise — 

 Her sons, that hear them, as of old shall choose 



