172
{fifth : late
A Ei-monthly Magazine Devoted to the Study and Protection oi Birdl
oer-mat one” or run Aunuuos SOCIETIES
Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN Published by THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
No. 5
Vol. VI Published October I. 1904
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Price in the United States. Canada and Mexico twenty cents a number, one dnllaf a year. post» age paid.
ArMAN
airo~Lore r Motto: A Bird in the Bush 1': Worth Two in the Hand
WE have before remarked that effective bird protection means not only preventing the decrease of birds but taking measures
which will resilltin theirincreaset We con-
sequently are glad to respond to a general
demand for information in regard to suitable types of bird ‘boxes’ or houses. It is pro» posed to devote a large part of an early number of BIRD~LORE to this subject, and we ask the assistance of our readers in secur- ing photographs of bird homes which they have found to meet the demands of various bird tenants.
IN the “Atlantic Monthly’ for july john Burroughs discusses in a logical and con— vincing tvay ‘The Literary Treatment of Nature.’ The article should be read, and read carefully, by every one interested in the popular presentation of natural history sub< jects. The literary naturalist should have as much regard for tacrs as his scientific brother. It is in his presentation of them that he will depart from the formal and stereotyped methods or science.
The technical scientist addresses corlabor- ers in a similar fieldt At the outset he is assured of their attention and comprehen- sion. A place of publication is provided in the Proceedings of learned Societies or Bulletins of Museums. He is not subject to editorial dictation not under the slightest obligation to make himself interesting. He clothes his statements in the language of
Bird —Lore
science, a garb well designed to disguise the most attractive form.
The literary naturalist, on the other hand, must primarily be interesting. This is an editorial requirement. He writes for publi- cations whose existence depends on the pecuniary support they receive from the public. His articles must help sell the medium in which they appear. Now the literary naturalist may command the public car in a variety of ways. He may be an unusually keen student of nature whose ac- counts of what he has observed, though simple in form, are readable because of their inherent merit. He may see no better than the rest of us biit possess descriptive powers which, as Mr. Burroughs says, will enlist our sympathies and arouse our enthusiasm by so presenting his facts that their relation to our lives is emphasized Or he may ‘interpret‘ what he has seen or heard. Such interpretation, as Mr. Burroughs clearly points out, is not a scientific explan- It is not expressed in the vocabulary of science but in terms of his own personality,— an interpretation of self. So Mr. Burroughs remarks, “What do Ruskin’s writings upon nature interpret? They interpret Ruskin"; and in the same issue of the ‘Atlantic’ the comment is strikingly verified by Ruskin himself, who in a letter to Charles Eliot Norton, writes, “When I am happy, a sparrow’s chirp is delicious to me. But it
ation, demonstration or hypothesis.
is not the chirp that makes me happy but 1‘
that make 1'! sweet."
Unfortunately, the desire to treat natural history subjects successfully in a literary way does not always lead to its fulfilment. The power to enjoy and appreciate does not imply the power to express. Hence the many manuscripts descriptive of experiences afield which i ‘l to convey to the reader one thrill of the joy the writer labors fruitlessly to share with him. He lacks the power to transmute his pleasure into pleasure-giving words and sentences; he cannot interpret.
It is left to him, however, to see. If he cannot place an old fact in a new light, per- haps he can discover a new fact, when the world and consequently the edi or will ever be ready to listen to him.
L-.._ .__
t_.o_,.a~.
“we...
