John Burroughs (1837-1921) was an American naturalist and nature essayist, and active in the U.S. conservation movement. He was not so much a scientist as a writer who recorded his own observations and interpretations of the world around him - and in particular the world of his farm in New York state. Sometimes (as can be seen in the article on "British Fertility," below) those interpretations might take a decidedly odd turn! Though Burroughs wrote of having a love of nature and a feeling of kinship with all rural things, he also subscribed to the Victorian approach to the observation of nature - which included trapping and killing specimens to learn more about them. This sometimes makes his articles a bit less heartwarming to the modern reader than they would have been if we'd been left to believe that the subjects of his study had been left to live out their happy natural lives! The articles below were published in The Century Magazine unless otherwise indicated. For more information on the author, see John Burroughs, by Hamilton Wright Mabie.

Birds

The Tragedies of the Nests (1883B)

On the predators that steal from birds-nests.

A Hunt for the Nightingale (1884A)

Winter [Bird] Neighbors (1885A)

Bird Enemies (1886A)

Birds' Eggs (1886B)

A Bird Talk (St. Nicholas, 1900A)

Mammals

A Mole, a Lamprey and a Fairy (1883A)

Glimpses of Wild Life (1892B)

Seasons

A Snow-Storm (1882B)

Hard Fare, by John Burroughs (1883A)

How animals prepare for and fare in the winter.

Signs and Seasons (1883A)

Other Articles

At Sea (1883A)

Nature in England (1884A)

British Fertility (1884B)

A rather curious "natural history" piece written as part of Burroughs' travels in England, remarking upon the fertility of man and beast in that country.

A Glance at British Wildflowers (1884B)

Among the Wild-Flowers (1887B)

Field-Notes, by John Burroughs (1894B)

Including the weasel and his den; a sparrow's mistake; a thrush's nest; the cunning of the crow; a frightened mink; and a black-snake raiding a blue-jay's nest.

For more information, see John Burroughs and His Last Two Books by Edith M. Thomas (1886B)