Our backdoor neighbors Author:Frank Chapman Pellett Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE stories that follow are the author's personal experiences with the creatures described. Every illustration is from an original photograph made by the author.... more » Several years of time and almost unlimited patience have been necessary to secure them. Several of the photographs have already appeared in various magazines, including such well-known publications as Outing, Country Life in America, Forest and Stream, and Guide to Nature. Some of the stories also have been published in Outing, and the readers of that magazine may recognize the "Chicken Thief," "The Neighborly Screech Owls," and the Red-tail family. A few of the pictures have also been published in the author's book, Productive Beekeeping. This book is given to the public with the hope that these intimate stories of life in the big out-of-doors may lead to a better understanding of the difficulties and dangers that beset the wild creatures, and a more sympathetic relationship with them. Frank C. Pellett. Tamakoche, Atlantic, Iowa, July 31, 1917. WHERE THE NATURALIST LIVED WHERE THE NATURALIST LIVED THE Naturalist lived in a modest old farmhouse surrounded by beautiful trees. The house was small and unattractive, A modest, old farmhouse surrounded by beautiful trees. but he was more interested in birds and bees and trees and flowers than in houses. Mrs. Naturalist did not find her habitation all thatmight be desired, but her husband found so much joy in their surroundings that he could not contain it alone. She absorbed some of his enthusiasm and was content. There were many wild flowers which the neighbors regarded as weeds. About the house there were clumps of elderberries, where the birds came to feed in the hot days of August, and mulberries where they were content to dine in cherry t...« less