VoL 5i9 XVI ] Bailey, In Memoriam: Olive Thome Miller. 169 



know what a good time we have always. We had a real 'love 

 feast' this time. Not only all the old standbys — Mr. Brewster, 

 Mr. Sage, Dr. Allen, Dr. Merriam and the rest, but a lot of Audu- 

 bonites and John Burroughs. 1 went over and stayed with Mrs. 

 May Riley Smith and attended every session." In this same 

 letter she speaks of her promotion to the new class of membership 

 and says, "It is a great pleasure to have honest work recognized, 

 and encourages one to keep at it." 



When Mr. Brewster, in view of a discovery made by Mrs. Miller, 

 wrote in 'The Auk,' regretting that one "gifted with rare powers 

 of observation " should not record at least the more important 

 of her discoveries in a scientific journal, Mrs. Miller replied in 

 another note to 'The Auk,' confessing that she would not know 

 what was a discovery; adding with the enthusiasm that vitalized 

 her work — "to me everything is a discovery; each bird, on first 

 sight, is a new creation; his manners and habits are a revelation, 

 as fresh and as interesting to me as though they had never been 

 observed before." Explaining her choice of a literary rather than a 

 scientific channel of expression, she gives the key to her nature 

 work, one of the underlying principles of all her work — " my 

 great desire is to bring into the lives of others the delights to be 

 found in the study of Nature." 



Looking over the bookshelf where the names of Burroughs, 

 Torrey, Miller, and Bolles call up each its own rare associations, 

 1 am reminded of a bit of advice that came long years ago from Mr. 

 Burroughs' kindly pen — " Put your bird in its landscape " — as this 

 seems the secret of the richness and charm of this rare company 

 of writers, for while beguiling us with the story of the bird, they 

 have set it in its landscape, they have brought home to us "the 

 river and sky," they have enabled us to see Nature in its entirety. 



Remembering this great boon which we owe Mrs. Miller, it 

 seems rarely fitting that when her three score years and ten were 

 accomplished, her last days should have been spent in the sunshine 

 surrounded by the birds and flowers which brought her happiness 

 in beautiful California. 



