BOOKS for 
Nature Lovers 
Fascinating Secrets of Nature 
That Everyone Should Know 

LITTLE NATURE LIBRARY 
4 Vols. 
The Little Nature Library consists of four 
handsome volumes containing more than 
1,100 pages of absorbing text and illustra- 
tions treating on all manner of nature sub- 
jects. Each book is handsomely cloth- 
bound, size 5% x 8% inches. The titles 
are: “Birds,” by Neltje Blanchan; ‘‘Butter- 
flies,’ by Clarence Wood; ‘Wild Flowers,” 
by Neltje Blanchan, and “Trees,” by Julia 
Ellen Rogers. 
1104 pages. Colored Illustrations. Cloth, $7.50 
AMERICAN ANIMALS 
By W. Stone and W. E. Cram 
A popular guide to the mammals of North 
America, north of Mexico, with intimate 
biographies of the more familiar species. 
318 pages. Colored Illustrations. Cloth $5.00 
BIRDS AND MAMMALS OF 
AMERICA 
Four Vols. Edited by T. Gilbert Pearson, 
John Burroughs, and others 
One thousand of our native birds de- 
scribed and pictured—over 300 species in 
color. This is the first time the subject has 
been dealt with fully in a popular work; and 
the treatment is not fragmentary—it is com- 
plete and systematic, with many interesting 
stories of bird Jife surrounding the hundreds 
of pictures. 
The same care that has been exercised in 
“Birds of America” is visible in this com- 
panion volume. It covers completely all 
forms of four-footed wild life in North 
America, from the largest moose or bison 
to the smallest field-mouse or bat. And the 
same thoroughness is seen in the smaller 
animals as in the larger. 
1245 pages. Colored Illustrations. 
ram, per set, $23.00 
Buck- 
BUTTERFLY BOOK 
By W. J. Holland 
A manual for the ready identification of 
the commoner species found in the United 
States and Canada. Color illustrations for 
identification accompanied by descriptions. 
382 pages. Colored Illustrations. Cloth, $5.00 
INSECT BOOK 
By Leland O. Howard 
A popular account of the bees, wasps, 
ants, grasshoppers, flies and other North 
American insects, exclusive of the butterfly, 
moth and beetles. 
429 pages. Colored Illustrations. Cloth, $5.00 
REPTILE BOOK 
By Raymond L., Ditmars 
Comprehensive popularized work on the 
structure and habits of the turtles, por- 
poises, crocodilians, lizards and’ snakes 
which inhabit the United States and North- 
ern Mexico. 
472 pages. Colored Illustrations. Cloth, $5.00 
TREE BOOK 
By Julia Ellen Rogers 
A popular guide to a knowledge of the 
trees of North America and to their uses 
and cultivation. 
589 pages. Colored Illustrations. Cloth, $5.00 
Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
221 West 57th Street New York City 

Send for Sportsmen’s Book Catalog 
In writing to Advertisers mention Forest and Stream. 
came straight to me. I was sorely 
tempted but he looked very small and 
there were only two of those precious 
shells. 
He lit in the puddle behind me and 
of course the mallards were watching 
him. One more pleading call from me 
convinced the drake. He decided he 
was both lonesome and hungry and 
furthermore, no mere teal was braver 
than he. Low and swiftly they came 
and announcing their coming to the 
whole world. “Gangway, Gangway. 
Warter, places for two and make it 
snappy.” 
At a distance of thirty yards the 
rat house suddenly developed arms and 
legs as I rose to my feet. The drake 
veered sharply to the left and the hen 
to the right, and I made the prettiest 
double of my life. 
And the moral of the tale is this— 
If you have unlimited patience, an 
obliging live decoy, and a wonderful 
duck call (like mine) you can always 
get a suspicious old mallard drake— 
perhaps. 
Skittering 
(Continued from page 265) 
dived to the bottom of the lake that 
time. There. She’s clear. Try her 
again. Fine. You’re coming on, Kid. 
Stick to it.” 
Up and down the fringe of pads we 
worked. It was a great sight to watch 
the little fellow balancing himself in 
the stern of the skiff, his red sweater 
and khaki breeches outlined against 
the steel-gray of the water, and the 
dark green of the distant woods. His 
round, sunburned face was the picture 
of intense concentration as he swung 
the great rod over and over again, try- 
ing to make the shining spinner and 
bait do his bidding. Gradually the 
knack began to come, and he made sey- 
eral very respectable casts. I pulled the 
boat around slowly. 
“Dick, do you see that patch of pads 
where there is a little strip of open 
water between them and the main bed 
of lilies? I’m going to mooch along the 
outer border of those pads, then swing 
up and come through the channel. It’s 
a grand place just there, so you keep 
your bait skittering along the edge of 
the pads as we go through the channel, 
then cast when we strike the open water 
again. See?” 
The boy nodded, and we pushed down 
the lake. As we passed the strip of 
water referred to on the down stretch, 
Dick could not resist the temptation to 
cast into it. There was a great swirl 
of water, and the kid made a noble 
strike. Out flew the spinner into the 
high heavens and Dick toppled almost 
————————— ES 
_— 
It will identify you. 
overside. “Gee! He was a beauty, 
Dad!” he whispered hoarsely as soon 
as he had regained his balance. 
“I saw him, all right, but don’t go 
to making a whirling dervish of your- 
self and the pole in this boat. You'll 
have the whole works overboard. Steady 
down, and I’ll come up there again in a 
minute.” 
We eased our way steadily into the 
little channel, and Dick settled his feet 
for the coming cast. Whish-h-h went 
the big pole. Slap—SPLASH! A huge 
mottled green form reared above the 
surface for a fraction of a second. The 
boy lowered the tip of his rod an in- 
stant then struck hard. WHO-O-OSH! 
The great fish broke water almost like 
a bass, his ugly jaws champing at the 
dangling metal. Down he dived for a 
run toward the pads. 
“Hold him, Kid! Hold him! Don’t 
let him get any slack line. Don’t jerk 
him. Just play him steady. That's 
the way! Keep him moving up and 
down. Hold hard, Kid!” 
Back and forth rushed the pickerel, 
diving with all his strength and bend- 
ing the big rod half double; darting 
from side to side; swinging suddenly 
to the surface unexpectedly and break- 
ing water in uncanny intelligence try- 
ing to take the boy off his guard and 
get slack line. Dick’s breath came in 
short puffs with excitement and exer- 
tion, but he stuck to the rod like a 
leech, occasionally shifting his footing 
on the boards. His face was crimson, 
and his eyeballs fairly started from 
their sockets. 
Gradually the rushes grew shorter. 
The big fellow was tiring. Now and 
again he would sulk close to the sur- 
face, his big dorsal fin cutting the 
water. But there was still fight in him, 
and he would suddenly dive to the bot- 
tom with all of his former steam. Now 
was the critical time for action. 
“Work him in towards me, Dick,” I 
called. “Not too fast; just ease him 
along.” 
The boy swung the rod in toward the 
boat, and the pickerel, after despairing 
rushes, followed sullenly. Cautiously 
I grasped the line and drew him in. 
One well-directed scoop of the net and 
he lay at our feet. 
Dick heaved a sigh of utter content 
and relief and settled himself in the 
stern seat. His eyes snapped like dia- 
monds as he’ gloated over the great 
prize. “Gee!” he breathed, “ain’t he a 
WONDER!” 

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