Some of these stories date back to my school days, although the first actually published was "Why the Chicadee Goes Crazy Twice a Year." This in its original form appeared in "Our Animal Friends" in September, 1893. Others, as "The Fingerboard Goldenrod," "Brook-Brownie," "The Bluebird," "Diablo and the Dogwood," "How the Violets Came," "How the Indian Summer Came," "The Twin Stars," "The Fairy Lamps," "How the Littlest Owl Came," "How the Shad Came," appeared in slightly different form in the Century Magazine, 1903 and 1904.

My thanks are due to the Authorities of the American Museum who have helped me with specimens and criticism; to the published writings of Dr. W. J. Holland and Clarence M. Weed for guidance in insect problems; to Britton and Browne's "Illustrated Flora, U. S. and Canada"; and to the Nature Library of Doubleday, Page & Co., for light in matters botanic; to Mrs. Daphne Drake and Mrs. Mary S. Dominick for many valuable suggestions, and to my wife, Grace Gallatin Seton, for help with the purely literary work.

Also to Oliver P. Medsger, the naturalist of Lincoln High School, Jersey City, N. J., for reading with critical care those parts of the manuscript that deal with flowers and insects, as well as for the ballad of the Ox-eye, the story of its coming to America, and the photograph of the Mecha-meck.

CONTENTS

Things to See in Springtime
The Seeing Eye
TALE NO. PAGE
1.Blue-eyes, the Snow-child, or the Story of Hepatica[3]
2.The Story of the Dawnsinger, or How the Bloodroot Came[5]
3.The Prairie-girl with Yellow Hair[6]
4.The Cat's-eye Toad, a child of Maka Ina[11]
5.How the Bluebird Came[14]
6.Robin, the Bird that Loves to Make Clay Pots[17]
7.Brook Brownie, or How the Song Sparrow Got his Streaks[20]
8.Diablo and the Dogwood[20]
9.The Woolly-bear[23]
10.How the Violets Came[25]
11.Cocoons[26]
12.Butterflies and Moths[28]
13.The Mourning-cloak Butterfly or the Camberwell Beauty[30]
14.The Wandering Monarch[32]
15.The Bells of the Solomon Seal[35]
16.The Silver Bells of the False Solomon Seal[37]

Things to See in Summertime
17.How the Mouse-bird made Fun of the Brownie[43]
18.The Pot-herb that Sailed with the Pilgrims[44]
19.How the Red Clover Got the White Mark on Its Leaves[47]
20.The Shamrock and Her Three Sisters[51]
21.The Indian Basket-Maker[53]
22.Crinkleroot; or Who Hid the Salad?[56]
23.The Mecha-meck[61]
24.Dutchman's Breeches[63]
25.The Seven Sour Sisters[65]
26.Self-heal or Blue-curls in the Grass[65]
27.The Four Butterflies You See Every Summer[67]
28.The Beautiful Poison Caterpillar[72]
29.The Great Splendid Silk-moth or Samia Cecropia[77]
30.The Green Fairy with the Long Train[79]
31.The Wicked Hoptoad and the Little Yellow Dragon[82]
32.The Fairy Bird or the Humming-bird Moth[85]
33.Ribgrass or Whiteman's-Foot[88]
34.Jack-in-the-Pulpit[91]
35.How the Indian Pipe Came[91]
36.The Cucumber Under the Brownie's Umbrella[93]
37.The Hickory Horn-Devil[95]

Things to See in Autumntime
38.The Purple and Gold of Autumn[103]
39.Why the Chicadee Goes Crazy Twice a Year[104]
40.The Story of the Quaking Aspen or Poplar[107]
41.The Witch-hazel[109]
42.How the Shad Came and How the Chestnut Got Its Burrs[112]
43.How the Littlest Owl Came[113]
44.The Wood-witch and the Bog-nuts[114]
45.The Mud-dauber Wasp[117]
46.The Cicada and the Katydid[121]
47.The Digger Wasp That Killed the Cicada[123]
48.How the Indian Summer Came[126]

Things to See in Wintertime
49.The North Star, or the Home Star[129]
50.The Pappoose on the Squaw's Back[131]
51.Orion the Hunter, and his Fight with the Bull[133]
52.The Pleiades, that Orion Fired at the Bull[134]
53.The Twin Stars[136]
54.Stoutheart and His Black Cravat[137]
55.Tracks and the Stories They Tell[138]
56.A Rabbit's Story of His Life[140]
57.The Singing Hawk[144]
58.The Fingerboard Goldenrod[145]
59.Woodchuck Day—February Second[149]

Things to Know
The Story of The Trail
60.How the Pine Tree Tells its Own Story[153]
61.Blazes[155]
62.Totems[155]
63.Symbols[159]
64.Sign Language[161]
65.The Language of Hens[161]
66.Why the Squirrel Wears a Bushy Tail[162]
67.Why the Dog Wags His Tail[163]
68.Why the Dog Turns Around Three Times Before Lying Down[164]
69.The Deathcup of Diablo[165]
70.The Poison Ivy, or the Three-fingered Demon of the Woods[169]
71.The Medicine in the Sky[170]
72.The Angel of the Night[172]

Things to Do
The Thinking Hand
73.Bird-nesting in Winter[177]
74.The Ox-eye Daisy or Marguerite[179]
75.The Monkey-hunt[181]
76.The Horsetail and the Jungle[185]
77.The Woods in Winter[186]
78.The Fish and the Pond[187]
79.Smoke Prints of Leaves[189]
80.Bird-boxes[189]
81.A Hunter's Lamp[193]
82.The Coon Hunt[194]
83.The Indian Pot[195]
84.Snowflakes[197]
85.Are you Alive? Farsight[199]
86.Are you Alive? Quicksight[200]
87.Are you Alive? Hearing[200]
88.Are you Alive? Feeling[201]
89.Are you Alive? Quickness[202]
90.Are you Alive? Guessing Length[203]
91.Are you Alive? Aim or Limb-control[204]
92.A Treasure Hunt[205]
93.Moving Pictures[205]
94.The Natural Autograph Album[207]
95.The Crooked Stick[208]
96.The Animal Dance of Nana-bo-jou[209]
97.The Caribou Dance[212]
98.The Council Robe[216]

Things to Remember
The Winged Soul that Stores up Precious Memories.
99.How the Wren Became King of the Birds[221]
100.The Snowstorm[222]
101.The Fairy Lamps[223]
102.The Sweetest Sad Song in the Woods[225]
103.Springtime, or the Wedding of Maka Ina and El Sol[227]
104.Running the Council[228]
105.The Sandpainting of the Fire[229]
106.The Woodcraft Kalendar[231]
107.Climbing the Mountain[233]
108.The Omaha Prayer[235]
A List of Books by the Author[236]