reading old birding journals

[batiferrite]

I went to a bookstore in a library and found some really cool books about birds, including Birds of an Iowa Dooryard by Althea R. Sherman. I haven't read all of her essays yet, but I'd really  recommend "Down with the House Wren Boxes" (1925). You can read a pdf here.

I just thought it was really interesting and funny how she starts off talking about how the House Wren is a Menace to Society and should be put to trial for his Crimes... but people are biased due to his cuteness and would never hold him accountable.

You can find other old birding magazines online, like Bird-Lore, which has a mixture of scientific articles, personal experiences, questions, how to engage the youth, and some good old fashioned bird discourse, as well. I just think it's really interesting to read through and see that people circa 1899 were basically forming the same sorts of communities like we do today! 

Comments

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

Old birding materials can be fascinating. :D

Here I have lots of house wrens. They are surprisingly loud for such tiny birds, and pugnacious all out of proportion to their size. One of them landed on me once and sang several songs. I am a throne of birds.

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[ysabetwordsmith]

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