184 THe OTTAwaA NATURALIST. — | December 
Just as if these evidences were not sufficient to convince us of the 
fact, another is near at hand, for there are stratified deposits of 
clay, sand, and gravel exposed in the sides ofa small gully which 
has been made by a little stream flowing across the road not five 
rods away. 
In this home property bird-life, too, is abundant and readily 
studied. During July and August the warbling vireos whistled 
delightfully from the tops of the trees, the swallows darted swiftly 
after the numerous insects which filled the air above the shallow 
waters, the nuthatches and the black-and-white warblers searched 
the tree trunks for insect food, and the flycatchers made sallies 
from their perches on the lowest cottonwood limbs to catch insects 
on the wing. Besides these were several kinds of water fowl and 
shore birds down by the river, the woodpeckers, the kingfshers, the 
catbirds, the American goldfinches, the yellow warblers, the red- 
winged blackbirds down among the reeds, the phoebes, the chica- 
dees, the domestic sparrows, the song sparrows, the chipping 
sparrows, and many others, all within a few rods of the observer. 
Space forbids further notice of the many other interesting 
objects of study, and problems which the young student finds 
awaiting solution about his own home. 
This paper is practically a plea for a closer study of our home 
surroundings, a study too often neglected by our nature students 
under the impression that nothing interesting or instructive can be 
found there. Asa matter of fact, the home with its garden and 
lawn is the very best field for Nature study. We require to give 
more attention to the commonplace things and to understand their 
real significence in everyday life. And how many commonplace 
things there are to study when we actually see with our eyes and 
hear with our ears, and when we realize that every detail of the 
structure of a plant, animal or landscape has a history and a mean- 
ing, and how few of our commonplace studies are beyond the com- 
prehension of the smallest child! 
When we know the things close at hand, we shall understand 
the things at a distance. When we understand the life-relations 
of the inhabitants of our yards ani gardens, we put ourselves 
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