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The outermost house : $b A year of life on the great beach of Cape CodBeston, Henry

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The outermost house : $b A year of life on the great beach of Cape Cod

Name: The outermost house : $b A year of life on the great beach of Cape Cod
Author: Beston, Henry

Beston, Henry

Beston, Henry, 1888-1968; Birds -- Massachusetts -- Cape Cod; Cape Cod (Mass.) -- Description and travel; Natural history -- Massachusetts -- Cape Cod; Naturalists -- United States -- Biography

I wish to return thanks to Mr. Alva Morrison for his fine studies of
the winter beach and for his notes on birds, to Mr. Arthur Cleveland
Bent for the use of the two rare photographs from his collection, to
Dr. A. B. Klugh for the sandpiper illustration, to Commander Donald
MacMillan, and the American Museum of Natural History for the dovekies,
to Dr. John E. Fish for his photograph of the summer stranding, to
Mr. George A. Whiting of Eastham for his distinguished studies of the
beach and the _Montclair_, and to Mr. Robert Whiting for his striking
photograph of the fishing schooner in the surf at Pamet. And I wish to
thank Mr. John Farrar with all my heart for the patience and good will
with which he has dealt with so inaccessible an observer as myself.

I have made several references to Mr. E. H. Forbush’s _Birds of
Massachusetts and Surrounding States_. This compendium is a favourite
of mine for it is the work of one who is both a literary artist as
well as a distinguished ornithologist. I wish to record as well an
obligation to the staffs of the various state and federal bureaus which
I have consulted, and I would thank the Hon. A. Piatt Andrew of the 6th
Massachusetts for the unfailing courtesy and good will with which he
responded to my frequent requests for scientific studies published at
Washington.

My narrative concerns itself with the events of a twelvemonth, though I
spent, on and off, a somewhat longer time upon the beach. There was a
season in the spring when I had to leave the house a while.

I would close with the acknowledgment of a special and very great
obligation, my debt to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Kelley of the Overlook Inn
in Eastham. Without their constant and ever-thoughtful aid, without
their hospitable roof to turn to on occasion, without their friendly
care for my interests ashore, it would have been perhaps impossible to
remain upon the beach. With heartfelt gratitude do I thank them here.
Long may their hospitable doors stand open on Cape Cod!
                                                                   H. B.
QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS.




CONTENTS


  FOREWORD

  CHAPTER                               PAGE
  I.     THE BEACH                         1

  II.    AUTUMN, OCEAN, AND BIRDS         19

  III.   THE HEADLONG WAVE                41

  IV.    MIDWINTER                        59

  V.     WINTER VISITORS                  91

  VI.    LANTERNS ON THE BEACH           118

  VII.   AN INLAND STROLL IN SPRING      143

  VIII.  NIGHT ON THE GREAT BEACH        168

  IX.    THE YEAR AT HIGH TIDE           189

  X.     ORION RISES ON THE DUNES        218




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


  A WINTER WRECK AT PAMET                  _Frontispiece_
    _Photo by R. Whiting_

                                              FACING PAGE
  THE BEACH                                             5
    _Photo by Morrison_

  THE EASTHAM DUNES FROM THE INLET                     12
    _Photo by Bradford_

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The outermost house : $b A year of life on the great beach of Cape Cod

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