24 PROCEEDINGS OP THE 



fashion at all seasons of the year. We have penetrated the 

 lonely regions to the eastward almost to the coast. The waters 

 between us and the Delaware have been navigated by canoe. 

 We have tracked the small beasts of the woods in the snows of 

 winter. We have watched the Shore Larks and Pipits sweep- 

 ing over the bare fields like leaves in the gale. We have 

 become intimate with the swamp-dwelling birds which grow fat 

 in the winter on the seeds and berries of sheltered thickets. In 

 the spring we have heard the first flute-like notes of the Blue- 

 birds traveling northward across the sky, and have welcomed 

 the gay throngs that follow until all our grooves and thickets 

 are filled with fluttering wings and rollicking songs. We have 

 watched the building of nests and the rearing of young as spring 

 and summer progressed, and then when autumn has made all 

 the woods and thickets to swim in a riot of color, we have seen 

 the Wild Ducks come driving down the curves of the stream, 

 and realized that soon the snowflakes would fly again. 



Moreover, there has been a delightful human interest about 

 this little cabin. Jolly family parties, when the flutter of skirts 

 and the laughter of children enlivened the woods; wild, maraud- 

 ing bands of ornithologists and botanists who swarmed up trees 

 and plunged into swamps in search of prey; dreamy-eyed artists 

 with palate and canvas; tired business men who just wanted to 

 lie on their backs and look up at the pines through half-shut 

 eyes; and then there are the snug evenings spent before our 

 glowing fireside when the winter wind whistles about the house 

 and the good tale is told and the hot argument fought out. 

 Yes, our venture has been a success, and has helped not only 

 ourselves but others also, we trust. 



All this has been written in the hope of stimulating a desire 

 for such a life on the part of the readers of Cassinia. We all 

 know something of "the call of the wild," but whatever our in- 

 clinations may be there are few of us who can respond to it, 

 save perhaps at very rare intervals. There is, however, a modi- 

 fied summons, which we might term "the call of the half 

 wild," and to this we can more easily respond. Dame Nature 

 is always loitering just round the corner. It pays to follow her 

 beckoning ; you can find no better company. 



