12 AUTUMN NOTES IN IOWA 



Harlan, Curator of the State Historical Depart- 

 ment of Iowa. 



Of those interested in the Iowa literature of 

 this type, some now live or have once lived in the 

 state ; others know nature in Iowa only by report. 

 One reader may be stirred by the simplest men- 

 tion of a flower or bird loved in childhood, or fa- 

 miliar now in everyday life ; another may be alert 

 to discover the relations of Iowa flora, fauna, and 

 weather, from the point of view of personal obser- 

 vation, to those of Rhode Island, Georgia, or Cali- 

 fornia. Some passages in our text suggest these 

 interstate comparisons. 



For all ^^ nature fakirs" there exists the inex- 

 haustible pleasure of comparison of data for dif- 

 ferent individual observers, for different locali- 

 ties, seasons, years, and generations. The new 

 finding and the lost treasure both give a certain 

 satisfaction. The cardinal now seems more fre- 

 quent than of old in central Iowa, but in the Jas- 

 per County woods, can you any longer find the yel- 

 low lady's slipper, as in golden Junes of youth? 

 Can you today listen to the April drumming of the 

 grouse, or watch his long flight from snow-covered 

 shrubbery in December? 



All the data given in this volume as observa- 

 tions made at a specific time and place are bona 

 fide personal records for that time and place. 

 These are not strictly journal entries, however. 



