V ^' 9 XI j Correspondence. 1 85 



His services to Ornithology were of two distinct kinds ; several of his 

 articles dealing with special subjects, took rank as soon as they appeared, 

 as contributions of permanent scientific value. This is especially true of 

 his well-known study of the Sapsuckers, an examination of which will 

 reveal the secret of much of his success in field-work. It gives abundant 

 evidence of the most patient and intelligent observation. When Mr. 

 Bolles undertook the study of any particular problem, he concentrated his 

 attention upon the subject with a remarkable conscientiousness and close- 

 ness. Nothing was allowed to distract him from the work in hand; 

 nothing escaped him which might throw light on it. He displayed, more- 

 over, a fertility and an ingenuity in experiment which enabled him to test 

 in a remarkable way the accuracy of his conclusions. 



Besides these special contributions to scientific knowledge, Mr. Bolles 

 in his popular writings presented the subject of Ornithology in so attrac- 

 tive a light, and to so large an audience, that it is doubtful if any other 

 recent writer has awakened a more widespread interest in the subject. 



The story of his entrance into the field of literature is an interesting 

 one. In the winter of 1889, before the 'Boston Post' had ceased to repre- 

 sent the best traditions of Boston journalism, its readers were attracted by 

 a series of weekly letters, signed O W. L., which described, in a vivid 

 and attractive fashion, the changes of a New England season from mid- 

 winter to early spring. The letters showed the fields and hills of the 

 vicinity in an aspect totally unfamiliar to many and lent to the seemingly 

 barren wastes of snow, the animation of natural life, and the warmth and 

 beauty of sunset and storm. They were often written at the close of a 

 long outing, rapidly and accurately setting forth in the incisive language 

 which Mr. Bolles always employed, the incidents of the day. At the 

 fortunate suggestion of Mr. Lowell the letters were put into a permanent 

 form and will serve to perpetuate to an ever-increasing number of readers 

 the memory of their author. 



It will be evident to the hastiest reader of Mr. Bolles's books, as it was 

 to those who knew him, that he loved the outdoor world with the inten- 

 sity and entire sincerity of his whole nature. Especially the wilder 

 aspects of Nature appealed to him. Winter, the sea, the mountains, 

 attracted him, and found in him a sympathetic interpreter. In his unaf- 

 fected delight in being out of doors, and in his enthusiasm in recording 

 the simplest facts that came within his observation lie much of the charm 

 of his work. There is, besides, the virility and freshness of his style, and 

 his splendid power of description. 



Of Mr. Bolles as a man and as a friend this is not the place to speak at 

 length. To those who knew him, his presence is still so vivid, and the 

 feeling of his loss so keen, that a mere word will serve to recall him. His 

 whole-heartedness characterized his relations with his fellows, as it entered 

 into everything he undertook. All who knew him feel a sense of his loss 

 which reveals to them how large a part he filled in their lives. 



