Massachusetts A II duhon Society 7 



bluebird keeps her nest very clean; every bit of excrementitious matter 

 was taken away, and often the refuse would be carried away into the 

 orchard before it was dropped. She seemed to understand the sanitary 

 laws. Many of the highest species of creature manifest less wisdom in 

 conducting some of their affairs than do numbers of the smallest; and 

 so it was observed a long time ago by a very wise man: "There be four 

 things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: 

 The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the 

 summer; the conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in 

 the rocks." jQj^^ y^ D^^jg^ M.D. 



• • • 



BOOK REVIEWS 



Trees, Stars and Birds, by Edwin Lincoln Moseley, A.M., Head of 

 the Science Department, State Normal College of Northwestern Ohio. 

 Nature study has in the past been more of a minor factor in the educa- 

 tion of the child, but now the time approaches when school authorities 

 are commencing to recognize the usefulness of a child's intimate knowledge 

 of nature and the possibilities that may be unearthed in the child's life 

 when it has before it the opportunity to know more about the interesting 

 facts of the great outdoors. This study naturally calls for appropriate 

 textbooks in order that the subject may be treated properly, and in this 

 treatise may be found definitely and concisely three phases of nature 

 study. The author's long and successful experiences are treated in this 

 book in such a way as to be of special benefit not only to the pupil but 

 also to the teacher in the way of information, suggestions and questions 

 on the three subjects of trees, stars and birds. The book is unusually 

 well printed and bound and contains over three hundred illustrations, 

 including colored plates by Louis Agassiz Fuertes. It is published by 

 the World Book Company, and the price is $L40. 



Homing With the Birds, by Gene Stratton-Porter. Readers of 

 Mrs. Porter's novels know well the genuine and interesting way in which 

 she takes them with her through mazes of fiction deftly interwoven with 

 facts of the outdoor world. Nor is it necessary to introduce the author 

 to nature lovers, for readers of "Freckles," "The Girl of the Limberlost," 

 "The Harvester," etc., have found the stories opening to them new 

 paths into pleasant realms of nature study. The personality of an 

 author is always interesting and in this new book Mrs. Porter relates to 

 us her personal experiences and interesting incidents in her intimate 

 study of bird-life. She gives us in detail glimpses into the family 

 life of the birds as well as her own and we are thus brought into closer 

 and more intimate knowledge of both. The book is illustrated with 

 photographs taken by herself, many of them remarkable as showing 

 strange phases of bird-life and unusual experiences in bird study. This 

 book is published by Doubleday, Page & Co., and the price is $2.00. 



