4 o THROUGH LIBRARY WINDOWS 



triangular spot. It is screened at either end to 

 keep in the fishes. A rustic bridge spans it, 

 and over there is a wild and tangled mass of 

 ferns, a dozen varieties rich in growth, a de- 

 lightful eye-feast. A tall pine is in the corner, 

 a veritable bird tower. Crows and hawks and 

 grackles and kingfishers and blue jays alight in 

 it to spy out our liberty. What hearty scraps 

 they often have up there, always worsted, how- 

 ever, for the King-Bird nests just below in the 

 elderberry bush. Shrubs line the stream and 

 quite hide our literary den, for this is our real 

 summer workshop. The Wood-Thrush has his 

 nest close by, the Cat-Bird's nest is not twenty 

 feet away, the Robin is up in the pine almost 

 overhead, the Chickadees are in the alders, the 

 Song-Sparrow is down in the willows close to 

 the ground, and all of them are so tame. We 

 never go to their nests and so they chirp and 

 sing all about us, and bathe frequently in the 

 Arno. But what an ideal place for study. 

 These articles are written out here from four 

 to eight in the morning. Such conditions would 

 inspire any brain and spirit. Why should I 

 wish to enter the indoor study of the city 

 though filled with books and pictures, when I 

 possess the unexhausted treasures of this out- 

 door ideal study here. Everything means some- 



