IV. BIRD INTIMACIES 39 V. A MIDSUMMER IDYL 69 VI. NEAR VIEWS OF WILD LIFE 79 VII. WITH ROOSEVELT AT PINE KNOT 101 VIII. A STRENUOUS HOLIDAY 109 IX. UNDER GENIAL SKIES 127 I. A Sun-Blessed Land 127 II. Lawn Birds 129 III. Silken Chambers 132 IV. The Desert Note 143 V. Sea-Dogs 148 X. A SHEAF OF NATURE NOTES 152 I. Nature's Wireless 152 II. Maeterlinck on the Bee 156 III. Odd or Even 163 IV. Why and How 165 V. An Insoluble Problem 167 VI. A Live World 169 VII. Darwinism and the War 172 VIII. The Robin 175 IX. The Weasel 177 X. Misinterpreting Nature 179 XI. Natural Sculpture 181 XI. RUMINATIONS 184 I. Man a Part of Nature 184 II. Marcus Aurelius on Death 185 III. The Interpreter of Nature 186 IV. Original Sources 190 V. The Cosmic Harmony 191 VI. Cosmic Rhythms 193 VII. The Beginnings of Life 194 VIII. Spendthrift Nature 195 XII. NEW GLEANINGS IN FIELD AND WOOD 197 I. Sunrise 197 II. Nature's Methods 199 III. Heads and Tails 205 IV. An Unsavory Subject 206 V. Chance in Animal Life 208 VI. Mosquitoes and Fleas 210 VII. The Change of Climate in Southern California 210 VIII. All-Seeing Nature 212 INDEX 217 UNDER THE MAPLES I THE FALLING LEAVES The time of the falling of leaves has come again. Once more in our morning walk we tread upon carpets of gold and crimson, of brown and bronze, woven by the winds or the rains out of these delicate textures while we slept.