The widely awakened attention of Americans to animals and plants inspired a desire to know them more in detail, and this brought out from specialists a great number of what may be classed as _guide-books_, descriptive of trees, wildflowers and animals of various kinds. The aids to bird study are especially notable, many of them, in addition to their value as reference books, containing much that is readable. None exceeds in this respect "The Birds of the Northwest," by Dr. Elliott Coues (1842-1899), who, besides being the foremost scientific ornithologist of his time, was one of the most brilliant writers America has produced in the field of prose composition. His "Key" is the text-book of American ornithology. [Illustration: ERNEST INGERSOLL Naturalist, editor and author] _Women Nature Writers_ [Illustration: OLIVE THORNE MILLER One of the first American women to write about Nature] In this group of helpful books are to be found most of the productions of the women that have turned their literary talents toward out-door study. Olive Thorne Miller's bird books were early in the field; Florence Merriam Bailey has guided amateurs to the observation of birds "through an opera-glass," and has revealed to the East those of the West, as has Mrs. Wheelock of California. Mrs. Fanny Eckstrom, Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright, Mrs. Doubleday ("Neltje Blanchan"), and Mrs. Porter of "Limberlost" fame are familiar names in this sphere of Nature lore. To Mrs. Anna B. Comstock we owe the best manual for teachers of Nature study, and a good little book on insects; Miss Margaret Morley has instructed us regarding wasps; Miss Soule tells us how to rear butterflies; Mrs. Dana leads us to the wildflowers,--and so on. _Scholar Naturalists_ [Illustration: WALTER PRICHARD EATON Writer on Nature subjects] [Illustration: FLORENCE MERRIAM BAILEY Author of "Birds Through an Opera Glass," "Handbook of Birds of Western United States," et cetera. Mrs. Bailey is the wife of Vernon Bailey, the well-known biologist and explorer] [Illustration: MRS. MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT Author of "Citizen Bird" (with Dr. Coues), "Gray Lady and the Birds," and similar books]