May 19, 1963 - Nature BooksExclusive Sunday Review Sketch by Dennis Puleston
A few weeks ago Arthur Cooley
wrote an informative a r t i c l e
about the many field guides on
the market today. He now brings
us the second part concerning the
many good basic natural history
writings that are.available. From
the brief descriptions and subject
areas described below I am sure
you will find many pleasant hours
of reading in the days ahead. PS
GUEST WRITER
ARTHUR COOLEY
Nature Books
In a previous article a list was
given of those field' guides and
reference works which might be
helpful to the naturalist. In this
column I would like to discuss
some nature books which have
given me a great deal of enjoy-
ment.
The task of a nature writer is
a difficult one. To become a com-
petent and commanding author is
a sizeable job. To become a
knowledgeable naturalist is also
a long and continuous endeavor.
For one person to combine both
of these qualities is indeed unique
and explains why the list of out -
standing nature writers is short.
One of the most prolific of
modern day nature authors is Ed-
win Way Teale. As a boy he
grew up in the sand dune country
of Indiana and his first articles
reflect_ this backgroun.l. Basically
an entomologist he has b e c o m e
well versed in other fields of
natural history. One of his best
books "The Lost Woods" treats
various nature topics in a series
of short essays including an in-
teresting story about the spawn-
ing of the horseshoe crabs and a
delightful story of the 'b e a v e r
lady of the Adirondacks'. He
later expanded this theme into a
series of four books dealing with
the four seasons. Each _ook re-
lates the travels of Mr and Mrs
Teale over a prep,aned route in
the United States, and recounts
a different season. Their trips are
designed to start on the first day
of each season and end on the
last. Since the mileage for each
season is long, the author is
forced, to shorten the accounts of
the interesting things they saw
on the-way. This leaves the reader
wishing the trip were shorter and
more leisurely. To date t h r e e
books have been published of the
four: "North With the Spring ",
"Journey Into Summer," and
"Autumn Across America."
Rachel Carson, well known for
t h r e e fine publications, has
emerged at the center of a raging
nature controversay with h e r
writing of "Silent Spring ". Little
need be said of this fine evalua-
tion of the dangers of the mass
use of insecticides.
Her first book "Under the Sea
Wind ", while a charming account
Of sea shore life, was not widely
read until "The Sea Around Us"
opened up the mysteries of the
oceans for the general reader.
Her style is concise and refresh-
ing and she has the ability to
bring to the printed page the in-
teresting and many times secre-
tive ways of nature: "The Edge
of the Sea" added another out-
standing chapter in her writing
career.
Joseph Wood Krutch, o n c e
drama critic for 'The Nation',
moved to the Southwest and be-
came aware of the outdoor life
he saw about his home. W i t h
this interest and his earlier writ-
ing experience, Mr Krutch began
writing nature books which not
only opened ones eyes to the bar-
ren beauty of the Southwest but
prompted the reader to t h i n k
of the future: His "Grand Can-
yon" describes the majesty of this
tremendous product of water ero-.
sion and insists that the p u b l i c
wake up before these fine ex-
amples of western scenic beauty
fall prey to the developers bull-
dozer and become just another
concentration of hot dog stands
and neon studded motels. "The
Desert Year" and "Voice of the
Desert" give fine accounts of an
ecological area unlike anything in
the East.
Konrad Lorenz, combining a dis-
tinguished scientific c a r e e r as
an animal behaviorist in Austria
with a writing career, has brought
us two entertaining works based
on his serious studies. "K i n g
Solomon's Ring" is a series of
short accounts on various behav-
ioral studies he has conducted.
Included is a story of his de-
termination to show that the first
animal that persistently quacks at
newly hatched ducklings will be
accepted as their mother. T h i s
experiment required Mr Lorenz
to crawl on his hands and knees
in front of a clutch of ducklings
quacking furiously until he was
accepted as the foster m o t h e r.
This short foray into the world
of the ducks brought peels of
laughter from his neighbors. In
"Man Bites Dog" he delightfully
discards cats, s m a l l dogs and
their owners and offers convinc-
ing arguments for the large dog
as a pet particularly the Alsatian.
Aldo Leopold was a forester
for many years and had become
so familiar with wildlife that he
has been able to relay to t h e
reader a complete understanding
of the ways of nature. He has
brought together in "Sand County
Almanac" a series of articles
which I find to be the best col-
lected in one book by one author.
His writing reflects a complete
and sympathetic understanding of
natures ways.
James Bodsworth, in fictional
form, has recorded for us the
story of the death of the I a s t
individual of the Eskimo Curlew.
While three of these birds have
recently been seen in T e x as,
"The Last, of the Curlews" serves
as a reminder that unless man
ceases his indiscriminate elimine-
Lion of wildlife habitat, this story
will be repeated with increasing
frequency in the future.
Often a reader wishes to have
some of each of the best of the
nature writers and so must turn
to an anthology. Both Peterson's
"Bird Watchers Anthology" and
Kieran's "Treasury of Great Na-
ture Writing" should be equally
good. Such titles as 'Turtle Eggs
for Agassiz,' Red - Letter Day at
Hawk Mountain' and ''Eggers of
Labrador' will serve to whet the
interest of the reader.
Finally in a lighter vein, "Lis-
ten the Red -Eyed Vireo" by Mil-
ton White provides comic relief.
The author, an English teacher
turned bi[d watcher by the local
bird chub, relates his experiences.
From rising at four to listen for
owls to secretly seaching -for the
local heronry, this book winds an
amusing trail through a series of
humorous incidents.
This is just a partial list of the
fine authors in the field but it
is hoped that those mentioned
will provide the reader with some
fine evenings reading.
List of Books Mentioned
In Above Article
Teale, Edwin Way — "The Lost
Woods ", Dodd Mead, (out of
print); "North With the Spring ",
Dodd Mead, $5.95; "Journey Into
Summer ", D o d d Mead; $5.95;
"Autumn Across America ", Dodd
Mead, $5.95.
Carson, Rachel — "Silent
Spring ", Houghton Mifflin, $5.00;
"Under the Sea Wind," Oxford,
$5.00; "The Sea Around Us," Ox-
ford, $5.00.
Krutch, Joseph Wood —
"Grand Canyon ", Sloane, $5.00;
"The Desert Year ", Sloane;
$3.75; "Voice of the Desert ",
Sloane, $3.75.
Lorenz, Konrad — "King Solo -
mons Ring ", C r o w e 11, $4.95;
"Man Bites Dog ", (out of print).
Leopold, Aldo — "Sand County
Almanac ", Oxford, $4.95.
Bodsworth, Fred — "Last of
the Curlews ", Dodd Mead, $3.00.
Peterson, Roger T — "B i r d
Watchers Anthology," Harcourt
Brace, $7.50.
Kieran, John — "Treasury of
Great Nature Writing ", ( o u t of
print).
White, Milton — "Listen t h e
Red -Eyed Vireo ", D o u b l eday,
$2.75.
Books available in paper back.
FIELD OBSERVATIONS
Jane Krupski reports:
Cutchogue — May 12
Indigo Bunting
Orchard Orioles (pair)
Laurence Ernest reports:
Southampton —_May 4-7
Least Terns
Turnstones
Least Sandpipers
Snowy Egret
Field Sparrows
Woodcock
Chestnut -sided Warblers
Prairie Warblers
Blue- winged Warblers
Crested Flycatchers
Hummingbird
Red&tailed Hawk
Parulla Warbler
Clapper Rail
The Ernests observed a litter
f I
of six red fox puppies r o m
about 20 feet for 10 minutes.
Dennis Puleston reports:
Southaven — May 7
Long - billed Marsh Wren
Yaphank — May 8
Louisiana Water - thrush
Sayville — May 9
Black - billed Cuckoo
Blackburnian Warbler (2)
Gnatcatcher
Veery
Sayville — May 10
Cape May Warblers (3)
Worm- eating Warbler
Bay - breasted Warbler (4)
Brookhaven
White- crowned Sparrow
Sayville — May 12
Golden - winged Warblers (2)
Cattle Egret
Sayville — May 13
Wilson's Warbler
Solitary Vireo (2)
Yellow- throated Vireo
Field Trip — May 11
Wading River
Rose- breasted Grosbeak (25)
Rose - breasted Grosbeak (Yellow
phase)
Indigo Bunting
Black - throated Green Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Canada Warbler
Myrtle Warbler
Red - shoulder Hawk (pr)
White-crowned Sparrow
Cedar Waxwing
Parula Warbler
Goldfinch
Kingbird
Scarlet Tanager
Bay - breasted Warbler
Ovenbird
Hummingbird
Mt Sinai
Black- crowned Night Heron
Yellow - crowned Night Heron
Green Heron (6)
Common Tern
Least Tern
Phoebe
Least Sandpiper (10)
Mute Swan (on nest)
Rough - winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper (3)