CHAPTER I 



A WILDERNESS IN NEW YORK CITY 



BOB-WHITES, WOODCOCKS, MUSKRATS AND OWLS TO BE FOUND 

 WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS EMPTY BIRDS* NESTS REMODELED 

 AND USED BY WHITE-FOOTED MICE WHITE-FOOTED MICE 

 AS PETS THEIR FOOD AND NESTS 



In these days of trolley-cars, for a nickel any- 

 one can visit the country, and even find small spots 

 of real wild land. 



It is a mistake to suppose that because you live 

 in a city, a long journey is necessary before you can 

 see a real wilderness. 



On a pleasant afternoon, in the spring or sum- 

 mer, take a trolley-car and before long you will 

 probably pass some neglected marshy land; stop 

 the car, get out and walk to the swamp you just 

 passed, and, if you are not afraid of wet feet and 

 torn clothes, enter. In five minutes' time you have 

 not only lost all traces of civilization, but all signs 

 of the presence of man. 



The trees, whose interlocking branches conceal 

 the sky, might well be a thousand miles from any 

 human habitation. 



The almost impassable thicket of green briar, 

 the festoons of cable-like wild grape-vines, the 



