In the open

INTIMATE STUDIES AND APPRECIATIONS OF NATURE BY STANTON DAVIS KIRKHAM
AUTHOR OF WHERE DWELLS THE SOUL SERENE THE MINISTRY OF BEAUTY
Over and above a healthy curiosity, or any scientific acquaintance, it is the companionship of the woods and fields which counts — a real friendship for birds and bees and flowers.
PAUL ELDER & COMPANY SAN FRANCISCO AND NEW YORK
Copyright, 1908 by Paul Elder and Company
TO MY WIFE MARY WILLIAMS KIRKHAM THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED

There is an estate on which we pay no tax and which is not susceptible of improvement. It is of indefinite extent and is to be reached by taking the road to the nearest woods and fields. While this is quite as valuable as any property we may possess, as a matter of fact few assert their title to it.
Nature is in herself a perpetual invitation to come into the open. The woods are an unfailing resource; the mountains and the sea, companionable. To count among one's friends, the birds and flowers and trees is surely worth while; for to come upon a new flower is then in the nature of an agreeable event, and a chance meeting with a bird may lend a pleasant flavor to the day.

A flock of wild geese on the wing is no less than an inspiration. When that strong-voiced, stout-hearted company of pioneers pass overhead, our thoughts ascend and sail with them over the roofs of the world. As band after band come into the field of vision—minute glittering specks in the distant blue—to cross the golden sea of the sunset and disappear in the northern twilight, their faint melodious honk is an Orphean strain drawing irresistibly.
AFTER THE PAINTING BY LOUIS AGASSIZ FUERTES