B Y THE WA YS1DE 
45 
<* 
Field-” Chapman's ‘‘Handbook of Birds 
of Eastern North America” is for ad¬ 
vanced work, and a convenient "book to 
carrv in the field. 
•/ 
There are several interesting books on 
insect life. One of the best for the study 
and identification of all insects is Com¬ 
stock’s “Manual for the Study of Insects.” 
Professor Comstock spent ten years of 
earnest effort on the text of this volume, 
while at the same time his wife devoted 
herself to the work of making correct and 
appropriate illustrations for the same. 
A smaller book and simpler is “Insect 
i 
Life” by the Comstocks. This gives val¬ 
uable instruction pertaining to the col¬ 
lecting of insects and the care of them 
indoors. 
Another book that has been an addi¬ 
tion to insect literature is “Ways of the 
Six-footed.” It is written and illustrated 
by Mrs. Comstock and reads in t.he : de¬ 
lightful wav in which Mrs. Comstock 
talks. What she' says and writes is 
truthful, wholesome and full of inspira¬ 
tion for the teacher and student. 
Among the several helpful ’bookfe on 
nature subjects by Clarence Moores Weed 
j are “Insect World” and “Nature Biog¬ 
raphies'” These are small volumes con¬ 
taining good decounts of common ’ but¬ 
terflies like : the Monarch, Miceroy, 
and Mourning-cloak,““the moths.- grass¬ 
hoppers, and so on. The latter contains 
fine photographs by The author: 
Miss Morley continues to add tQ- the 
: collection of books she began sending 
forth some years ago on plant life and in- 
! sect life. Her two little volumes'called 
“Insect I” and “Insect II” are scientific, 
attractive and readable by children. 
Miss Morley was at one time a thorough 
i teacher, as well as a student and lover of 
nature. Her student life was influenced 
bv Professor and Mrs. Straight who 1 are 
I J 
h 
.. 
mentioned by Professor Bailey as beiny 
among the pioneers in the Nature Study 
movement. 
A book of first hand information about 
the common spiders is “The ' Spinner 
Family,” by Alice Patterson. 
For a good work on animals we have 
American Animals by Stone, Widmer 
and Cram. This gives the native mam¬ 
mals of Mexico and Canada, as well as 
those of the United States. Ernest In- 
gersoll’s books on animal life are enter¬ 
taining and instructive. His “Wild 
Neighbors” shows an intimate acquaint¬ 
ance with a good many of the common 
mammals of our country, and “Wild Life 
of Orchard and Field” embraces all life 
found in these places. Perhaps the best 
book for the -study of animal life for 
teachers is “Animal Life” by Jordan and 
Kellogg. This is a volume of about 
three hundred pages of live workable 
material on animal ecology, “the relation 
of animals to their surroundings and 
responsive adaptation to these surround¬ 
ings.” This is the combined work of 
two able men who appreciate what is 
needed in the wav of a work on zoologv 
for teachers. 
For work in the plant world we may 
turn to a volume that is parallel with 
Animal Life, in Plant Relations by Prof. 
J. H. Coulter, the author of several books 
on botanical subjects. The best work we 
have for identifying wild plants of every 
kind is Illustrated Flora of the Northern 
United States and Canada,” in three vol- 
i 
umes by Britton and Brown. 
A good botany is indispensable in 
plant work. None is better than Gray’s, 
revised by Prof. L. H. Bailey. For tree 
and shruh stndy we have Keeler’s “Our 
Northern Shrubs,” and LIuntington’s at¬ 
tractive volume, “Studies of Trees in 
Winter.” 
