FOOTNOTES ON NATURE

A ""printed pilgrimage"" in which the Information Please naturalist (and other things) retraces, in leisurely essays, many of the excursions recalled from childhood, things seen and heard. From Dutchess County where he summered as a boy, to New York City, Long Island, New Jersey, the Berkshires, here are walks taken in the company of the Magician, the Artist, the Drama Critic, the Astronomer. A great many species of birds are observed as the seasons changed. Here too are trees and spring flowers, snapping turtles, skunks, insects, butterflies and moths, beaver, fish, caterpillars,- all that made up the outside world he saw around him. There's charm here, and tranquility too, giving this a special quality for followers of natural history via John Kieran.