The Masnavi, passage 23

It was an oak wood. A few hickories and chestnuts grew there, but the oaks ruled; great of girth, brawny of limb, with knotted muscles like the figures of Michael Angelo or Tintoretto’s workmen in his painting of the Forge of Vulcan. As to coloring, the oaks were of the Venetian painter’s following, every oak of them! In summer they were “men in green,” rich, vigorous green, with blue shadows between the rustling boughs; in early autumn, though russet in the shadow, the sunshine showed them a deep and splendid crimson, pouring through them like a libation to the gods of the lower earth, and to the noble dead, for the Dryad had a heart for heroes and all oak-like men.

The Masnavi, passage 142

“O, and my cookies are all down there!” he cried in great delight.

The Masnavi, passage 112

“But this is only Tuesday, my boy. You can’t keep it in that bottle all the week without food or drink. It must not be left to starve,” Mrs. Farnum replied.

The Masnavi, passage 203

Easily cultivated and highly ornamental, it has been introduced into the greenhouses and gardens of this and European countries.

The Masnavi, passage 175

The “Argonaut,” or “Paper Sailor,” is no less beautiful and interesting than the Pearly Nautilus. The thin and fragile shell cannot be compared with that of the Nautilus nor with the pen, or internal support, of the squid, for it is attached to the animal by no muscles, and is only kept in position by the broad webs on the upper arms of the female (which alone possesses a shell), its function being simply to protect the eggs. The male is very much smaller than the female and is exceedingly rare. The natural position of the female is with its arms spread out and hanging about the shell, four in front and four behind, the two broad arms supporting the shell being spread out and closely embracing the latter. The siphon is turned toward the ridged part of the shell and the animal progresses in a backward direction by forcibly ejecting water through this organ. It crawls with the shell on its back, like a snail.

The Masnavi, passage 1

BIRDS AND NATURE. ILLUSTRATED BY COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY. Vol. IX. MAY, 1901. No. 5

The Masnavi, passage 106

Its nest, usually placed on grassy knolls, in fresh-water marshes near the sea, is made of dried weeds and grasses and lined with the down of the bird. It is evident that the female performs all the duties of incubating the eggs and carrying for the young, for during the nesting period large flocks are observable that consist entirely of males, constantly feeding in their accustomed haunts.

The Masnavi, passage 15

Regarding the nesting habits of the Audubon’s Oriole, Captain Charles Bendire says, “The nest of this Oriole is usually placed in mesquite trees, in thickets and open woods, from six to fourteen feet from the ground. It is a semipensile structure, woven of fine, wire-like grass used while still green and resembles those of the hooded and orchard orioles, which are much better known. The nest is firmly attached, both on the top and sides, to small branches and growing twigs and, for the size of the bird, it appears rather small. One now before me measures three inches in depth inside by about the same in inner diameter. The rim of the nest is somewhat contracted to prevent the eggs from being thrown out during high winds. The inner lining consists of somewhat finer grass tops, which still retain considerable strength and are even now, when perfectly dry, difficult to break. Only a single nest of those found was placed in a bunch of Spanish moss and this was suspended within reach of the ground; the others were attached to small twigs.”

The Masnavi, passage 159

Usually, the opening of buds seems to take place almost in a single night, but they really open very gradually. Now, these buds are all formed the summer before, but they are so small that they are scarcely noticed in the midst of the many leaves. In the winter, however, they are readily seen; and, then, when the first warm rains fall in the spring they start to swell, and gradually grow larger until, suddenly, they burst through their snug winter coats, and show the tiny, green leaves that have been concealed in the thick, dark, outer covering.

The Masnavi, passage 3

May brings all the flowers at once, Teased by rains and kissed by suns; Now the meadows white and gold; Now the lambs leap in the fold. May is wreathed with virgin white; Glad May dances all the night; May laughs, rolling ’mong the flowers, Careless of the wintry hours. May’s storms turn to sunny rain, And, when Iris springs again, All the angels clap their hands, Singing in their seraph bands. —Walter Thornbury, “The Twelve Brothers.”

The Masnavi, passage 197

The leaves, like memories, evergreen, The blooms, like truth, of purest sheen; The cup within, like some fair breast Where holy thoughts can surely rest.

The Masnavi, passage 109

At last it dawned on the mother’s mind that they were hardly ever at home except to eat and to sleep and to get ready to go away again and she began to worry about it and wonder what she should do.

The Masnavi, passage 200

About the middle of the eighteenth century an enthusiastic botanist and collector, Peter Kalm, gathered specimens in America of a beautiful plant which he carried back to the gardens of Europe and also to his preceptor, the naturalist Linnaeus. In the year 1753 Linnaeus named the plant, honoring his pupil by giving to the plant the generic name Kalmia. He also gave it the specific name latifolia, referring to its broad leaves.

The Masnavi, passage 22

FROM AN ORNITHOLOGIST’S YEAR BOOK. THE HEART OF A DRYAD. I.

The Masnavi, passage 238

O Old Year, The [Poem] (Alfred Tennyson), 1 Orange, The [Illustration], 134 Orchard Bird-Way, An (Alberta A. Field), 156 Oriole, Audubon’s [Illustration] (Seth Mindwell), 194 Owl, The American Hawk [Illustration], 23 Oyster and its Relatives, The [Illustration] (Frank Collins Baker), 26

The Masnavi, passage 95

“The truth can never be confirmed enough, Though doubts did ever sleep.” Lawrence Irwell.

The Masnavi, passage 144

And thus it was that the Farnum children began a study which will interest them as long as they live. There is no longer any need to worry about their living at the neighbors; and at last the Farnum back-yard has become not only respectable, but actually a “thing of beauty and joy forever.”

The Masnavi, passage 26

The mother alone fashioned the nest, weaving it strongly of grasses and bark, of fibre, hair and string, and lashing it firmly near the end, a hanging cradle for the wind to rock at will and safely, and beautifully adorned with a fantastic pattern of green oak leaves, woven across, and aiding to conceal the nest itself. The eggs, four to six, were white, but marked with strange characters, sometimes distinct, sometimes obscure, a hieroglyphic of black or fuscous lines, over which the mother brooded patiently for many days. But the male oriole was not indifferent, even while the young were in the egg. He did not fear to expose himself upon an upper branch, where he could watch untiringly over the safety of the beloved nest and all day long, in bright or cloudy weather, floated down to his silent mate a song of courage and tenderness.

The Masnavi, passage 228

D Dovekie, The [Illustration], 167 Dowitcher, The [Illustration], 59 Duck, The Harlequin [Illustration], 155

The Masnavi, passage 75

The first protoplasm must be extremely ancient, for the remains of sea-weeds are found in the oldest strata, and vegetation implies the manufacture of protoplasm from inorganic matter.

The Masnavi, passage 7

The name oriole is from the French word oriol, which is a corruption of the Latin word aureolus, meaning golden. The name was originally applied to a vire, but is now used in a much wider sense and includes a number of birds.

The Masnavi, passage 154

The Wapiti is more common in low grounds in the vicinity of marshes and well wooded tracts, where it feeds on grasses and the young branches and leaves of the willows and allied trees.

The Masnavi, passage 135

“Yes,” admitted his papa, “but next spring you will have to go to the woods for new specimens.”

The Masnavi, passage 184

An ingenious method of capturing a species of the smaller squids (Ommastrephes illecebrosa) in use by the fishermen of the New England coast is as follows: The squid has the habit of swimming in an opposite direction to a light, as the full moon, so the fishermen go out to sea in boats, light a large torch in each boat and slowly row toward the shore, driving the squid, which of course swim backward in an opposite direction from the light, upon the beach, where they may be gathered by thousands after such an expedition. Another method of capture is by jigging; the jig is made of a piece of lead some two inches in length which is armed with a circle of sharp, unbarbed wires pointing upward and curving outward. The process of jigging is accomplished as follows: the jig is attached to twelve or fifteen feet of stout line and is lowered into the water, which is generally chosen of a depth of ten feet from the side of a small boat. When near the bottom it is kept moving slowly up and down until a squid is felt upon it, when it is suddenly drawn to the surface with the squid attached. These squid, when caught, are used for bait, a single fishing smack being known to use as many as eighty thousand squids in a single season.

The Masnavi, passage 12

The Mexicans capture these Orioles and offer them for sale. In captivity, however, they seem to lose their vivacity and will not sing. “When free their usual song is a prolonged and repeated whistle of extraordinary mellowness and sweetness, each note varying in pitch from the preceding.”

The Masnavi, passage 168

Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee, Child of the wandering sea, Cast from her lap, forlorn! From thy dead lips a clearer note is born, Than ever Triton blew from wreathéd horn! While on mine ear it rings, Through the deep caves of thought I hear a voice that sings:

The Masnavi, passage 31

The Godwits form an interesting group of the shore birds (Limicolae) and belong in the same family as the snipes and sandpipers. They command attention not alone because of their habits, but also because they have for centuries been considered a delicate food for man, and much has been written in praise of their flesh.

The Masnavi, passage 134

“I don’t know about that,” said Rob, with an ugly pucker in his forehead. “It will scare all my bugs away. They like weeds and dirty places.”

The Masnavi, passage 36

With the exception of the long-billed curlew the Marbled Godwit is the largest of the “Bay Birds.” These two birds closely resemble each other in coloration, but may be easily distinguished by the characteristics of the bills, which are very long. The terminal half of the bill of the curlew is curved downward, while that of the Godwit is either straight or slightly curved upward.

The Masnavi, passage 156

Many stories have been told in the past, tending to show that wild animals when in trouble will display surprising confidence in man, in fact will often seek his assistance when sore beset. The writer, when a boy upon a farm in Minnesota, had an experience with a field mouse which prettily illustrates this trait in wild creatures. It was stacking time and the men were all busy in the fields lifting the shocks of cured grain and stacking them in hive-shaped stacks in the barnyard. The writer, a barefoot boy at that time, had been following the wagons in the field all the morning in a vain endeavor to capture some field mice to take home as pets. He had seen a number of the drab little creatures with their short tails, but had failed to lay his hands upon any of them, owing to the thick stubble and the nimbleness of the mice. At last, as a particularly large shock was lifted, a broken nest was disclosed and the youthful mouser was put upon the qui vive by the slender squeaks of seven or eight hairless little beings that were so young as not to have opened their eyes as yet. The mother disappeared with a whisk, whereupon the young hunter sat down in a critical attitude beside the nest and began to examine his find. He had already put one of the young mice in his trousers pocket when the mother reappeared out of the stubble beside the nest. The boy held his breath and awaited developments. Much to his surprise, the mouse-mother, after carefully examining the ruined nest, entered his pocket, which, as he sat, opened very near to the nest. She seemed to come to the conclusion very quickly that her lost little one had found a very good home, and in about two minutes had transferred the remainder of her offspring from the nest to the pocket, carrying them one at a time in her mouth.

The Masnavi, passage 239

P Parrots, About [Illustration] (Lawrence Irwell), 98 Pau-Puk-Keewis and the Beavers [Poem] (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow), 174 Pelican, The American White [Illustration] (Seth Mindwell), 110 Pepper [Illustration] (Albert Schneider), 143 Plants, The Geographical Distribution of the Seed-bearing (John Merle Coulter), 42 Poem [Selection] (Thomas Bailey Aldrich), 109 Poem [Selection] (Thomas Bailey Aldrich), 107 Poem [Selection] (Robert Browning), 227 Poem [Selection] (Barry Cornwall), 25 Poem [Selection] (George Gee), 164 Poem [Selection] (George Gee), 167 Poem [Selection] (William M. Hardinge), 193 Poem [Selection] (Helen Hunt Jackson), 232 Poem [Selection] (John Keats), 41 Poem [Selection] (James Thompson), 59 Poem [Selection] (Walter Thornbury), 175 Polly [A Story about a Moth] (Susan Brown Robbins), 108 Pomegranate, The [Illustration], 86

The Masnavi, passage 40

Its food consists of the smaller crustaceans, worms, snails, insects and their larvae. These are captured from the surface of the water, on the shore or are probed for, with the long, sensitive bills, in the soft soil of the banks or under shallow water. When feeding it moves in an easy and graceful manner. Its grace and dignity well merit the saying that “it is one of the most beautiful of the birds sought by the sportsman.”

The Masnavi, passage 10

The genus of orioles (Icterus) contains about forty species, chiefly natives of Central and South America. The plumage of nearly all the species is more or less colored with shades of yellow, orange and black.

The Masnavi, passage 246

--Reconstructed the Table of Contents (originally on each issue’s cover).

The Masnavi, passage 51

Mr. Blue Jay was more excited than before and turned about, twitched his tail violently, scolded and sputtered that he had had just such an experience and he believed the sparrows had added witchcraft to their other sins and were trying to hoodoo the birds of Leafy Lawn.

The Masnavi, passage 62

The Rusty Blackbird has a wide range. It is more common in the eastern portion of North America from Florida and the Gulf of Mexico northward to the northern limit of the forests. Westward, though constantly decreasing in numbers as the distance increases from the Atlantic coast, it is found as far as the great plains and very rarely on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. It frequents practically the whole forest area of British America from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. Mr. E. W. Nelson says: “I found it abundant at the Yukon mouth, where the widely extended areas of bush grown country offered suitable shelter and where it consequently nested in considerable numbers.”

The Masnavi, passage 24

Immediately before the great winds came, stripping them bare, and dashing silver cymbals to wild airs of triumph, they wore a sober brown, but it put on a glow, as of bronze or heated metal after a rain, when the sun’s rays smote them with shining spears smiting aslant with unwonted glittering. Under the moon or after a freeze they were all clad in steel, armor of proof, and mighty was the tumult, as of meeting swords, when the great boughs swung, and the long icicles fell upon ice below.

The Masnavi, passage 100

Immense flocks of the young of this species winter on San Diego Bay, California. Here the adult birds are of rather rare occurrence for they are able to withstand the rigors of an arctic winter and stay far to the northward where they are a common resident. In the vicinity of San Diego there was about one adult to every seventy-five or one hundred juvenile birds. The former may be easily distinguished by their very striking velvety black plumage, the white markings on the nape and forehead standing out in bold contrast. These white markings remind one of the white bull’s eye on a target. Because of this striking color characteristic the Surf Scoter is frequently called the Target Head, by the California hunters.

The Masnavi, passage 57

Mr. Cat-bird was welcomed to Leafy Lawn, for his beautiful voice was an esteemed acquisition to the morning chorus, but he could not deceive the birds again with his imitative songs.

The Masnavi, passage 104

Mr. Nelson states that the Surf Scoter appears in the vicinity of St. Michaels, Alaska, about the middle of May and nests commonly in the marshes of the delta of the Yukon river. It also nests in large numbers on the Atlantic coast from Labrador northward.

The Masnavi, passage 29

THE MARBLED GODWIT. (_Limosa fedoa._)

The Masnavi, passage 122

Then Rob made for himself a camp-stool that he could carry around and plant among the bushes where he would sit watching for certain bugs to appear and trying to catch them in his bottle. Such patience as it took at first! And how little Rob had of it! But Lora read long, interesting chapters to him out of “The Insect World,” and the specimen case grew so fast and became so fascinating that he found the patience quite worth while.

The Masnavi, passage 250

Gutenberg #47487: Volume 9 Number 1, January 1901 Gutenberg #47489: Volume 9 Number 2, February 1901 Gutenberg #47489: Volume 9 Number 3, March 1901 Gutenberg #47490: Volume 9 Number 4, April 1901

The Masnavi, passage 194

Very little success has been achieved in domesticating the Trailing Arbutus. It is essentially a wild creature and prefers to waste its fragrance on the desert air. Success may be had, however, if the conditions under which the plants are found growing are preserved as nearly as possible. Yearling plants should be selected and plenty of roots taken or results can be obtained from planting seeds, but as these are difficult to obtain, the other method is the more satisfactory.

The Masnavi, passage 82

If the principle of heredity be true, one would expect to find in the development of animals and plants, traces of the line of descent. “If Evolution be true, one ought to find, following back the development of the egg, that specific details would vanish and give rise to more generalized features; that the earlier the stages, the more the embryos of related forms would resemble each other.” This is exactly what is found, there being, in a vast number of instances, a remarkable parallel between the palaeontological record and the embryological evidence. A detailed examination of the facts would not be intelligible to anybody who is not a practical biologist; but I am fully warranted in asserting that every organism in the course of its life-history (technically called ontogeny) is a recapitulation of the history of the race—technically known as phylogeny.

The Masnavi, passage 151

In both the Wapiti and the stag the senses of sight, hearing and smell are well developed. They will detect a human being or other animal when some distance away. Though their acute senses protect them, they are said to have poor memories as well as weak powers of comprehension. The Wapiti when listening raises its head and throws forward its erected ears. When entering the forest it will examine the surrounding open country and sniff the wind, seeking possible danger.

The Masnavi, passage 93

Until recently we had with us two men of science whose opposition to some portion of the doctrine of evolution was of importance. These men were Sir William Dawson, the Canadian geologist, and Mr. Mivart, the English anatomist. Both of these gentlemen have died within the past two years.

The Masnavi, passage 54

“It is undoubtedly a hobgoblin,” hoarsely whispered Mr. Woodpecker, “for Mr. Blue Jay swore to me this morning that during the seasons he and his ancestors have patrolled this lawn never have they seen a thrush even alight here.”

The Masnavi, passage 225

A Apple, The [Illustration] (Charles S. Raddin), 38 April [Sonnet] (Helen Hunt Jackson), 145 April [Poem] (Bernard Malcolm Ramsay), 145 Arbutus, The Trailing [Illustration] (Charles S. Raddin), 228 Arbutus, Trailing [Poem] (George Bancroft Griffith), 231 At Dusk [Poem] (Albert Schneider), 96 Awakening [Poem] (Margaret E. Sangster), 236

The Masnavi, passage 129

“I feed them and they eat, but they never drink a tiny bit,” he said.