SOME TENNESSEE BIRD NOTES. 201 



It is one precious advantage of natural 

 history studies that they afford endless op- 

 portunities for a man to enjoy himself in 

 this sweetly childish spirit, while at the same 

 time his occupation is dignified by a certain 

 scientific atmosphere and relationship. He 

 is a collector of insects, let us say. Whether 

 he goes to the Adirondacks for the summer, 

 or to Florida for the winter, he is surrounded 

 with nets and cyanide bottles. He travels 

 with them as another travels with packs of 

 cards. Every day's catch is part of the 

 game ; and once in a while, as happened to 

 me on Cameron Hill, he gets a " great hand," 

 and in imagination, at least, sweeps the 

 board. Commonplace people smile at him, 

 no doubt; but that is only amusing, and 

 he smiles in turn. He can tell many good 

 stories under that head. He delights to be 

 called a " crank." It is all because of peo- 

 ple's ignorance. They have no idea that he 

 is Mr. So-and-So, the entomologist ; that he 

 is in correspondence with learned men the 

 country over ; that he once discovered a new 

 cockroach, and has had a grasshopper named 

 after him ; that he has written a book, or is 

 going to write one. Happy man ! a contrib- 



