PREFACE V 



I know very well that I have omitted many birds 

 and flowers that will be looked for by some per- 

 sons, and I can only try to disarm criticism by 

 apologizing in advance and by saying, once for all, 

 that Nature's Diary is not in any sense a complete 

 record of her doings. 



For indispensable assistance in arranging the 

 floral calendar, my thanks are due to the well- 

 known botanists Walter Deane, Esq., Frederick 

 Le Roy Sargent, Esq., and Henry A. Purdie, Esq. ; 

 and I must also express my gratitude to William 

 Brewster, Esq., and Henry M. Spelman, Esq., of 

 Cambridge, Massachusetts, Professor Clarence 

 Moores Weed of Durham, New Hampshire, Mr. 

 and Mrs. White of North Con way, New Hampshire, 

 and Robert Briggs Worthington, Esq., of Dedham, 

 Massachusetts, for the use of the photographs from 

 which the illustrations were made. 



It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to suggest that 

 the blank space on the right-hand pages may very 

 appropriately be used for a perennial register of 

 the progress of the seasons. 



The preponderance of Thoreau in this little vol- 

 ume is due to the simple fact that his books really 

 contain more quotable paragraphs than all the 

 others together, and this is largely owing to his 

 wonderfully picturesque and epigrammatic style. 



F. H. A. 



