Preface. 1 1 



cate, lacks taste, and is all unworthy of entrance 

 into the courts of the refined ? Out upon such 

 rot ! Have you seen your bird and flower as it 

 really is when you have seen nothing but it? 

 That which led to it, and all that filled the 

 world when it itself passed from view, had some 

 bearing upon it which you have missed. If to 

 reach some desired bird or flower you have to 

 pass through a den of snakes, do so, and if 

 moved to tell your story, say so. Do not slur 

 over snakes for sake of any supposed objection 

 to them. Serpents are as much a part of 

 Nature as any flower of hill or dale. I never 

 heard more exhilarating songs than those of the 

 Carolina wren, that stays all day in the barn- 

 yard and roosts, for aught I know, in the pig- 

 pen ; and I do not propose to transplant that 

 bird to the flower-garden or set it up on the 

 lawn to slur over the prosaic truth. 



Having rambled as Nature's guest, do not 

 be mean enough to misrepresent her. The 

 "loathsome and dangerous" must not be over- 

 looked if the author is true to her, and loyalty 

 there, rather than to people's prejudices, should 

 be his ambition. If seen aright, Nature is 



