PREFACE 



The material in this little book is the outgrowth of ten 

 years' natural history study and teaching in the Chautauqua 

 region. The material is assembled in this form with the hope 

 that it may be useful to the increasing number of nature-stu- 

 dents who are actively interested in the rich and beautiful 

 natural background of Chautauqua. 



The subject-matter is not designed to take the place of 

 that found in the standard reference books; it is suggestive 

 rather than scientifically exhaustive. In the various lists, for 

 example, only the common and fairly common forms are usu- 

 ally included; rare and adventitious species, although often of 

 extreme scientific interest, are not of particular significance to 

 the beginner in natural history. 



It is significant that natural history has always been an in- 

 tegral part of the Chautauqua ideal. Wherever people may 

 live, amidst or far remote from the centers of culture, 

 Nature is omnipresent as the universal background of their 

 lives. Natural history is the most cosmopolitan of the cul- 

 tural elements; it is not nationalized, like literature, nor racial, 

 like the languages, nor sectarianized, as is theology, nor 

 provincialized, as is history. The natural history of any 

 locality, no matter how apparently mediocre and humble, is a 

 clean-cut epitome of the outstanding laws of the universe. 



This book is based upon the fundamental proposition of 

 the nature-study idea, namely, that happiness may be derived 

 from an intimate and sympathetic knowledge of the common 

 things of our out-of-doors. 



VAUGHAN MACCAUGHEY. 



