Mr. Burroughs has written a number of critical essays on life and
literature, published in Indoor Studies, and other volumes. He has
a1so taken his readers into his confidence in An Egotistical Chapter,
the final one of his Indoor Studies; and in the Introduction to the
Riverside Edition of his writings he has given us further glimpses of
his private intellectual life.

Probably no other American writer has a greater sympathy with, and a
keener enjoyment of, country life in all its phases--farming, camping,
fishing, walking--than has John Burroughs. His books are redolent of
the soil, and have such "freshness and primal sweetness," that we need
not be told that the pleasure he gets from his walks and excursions is
by no means over when he steps inside his doors again. As he tells us
on more than one occasion, he finds he can get much more out of his
outdoor experiences by thinking them over, and writing them out
afterwards.

Numbers 28, 36, and 92 of the Riverside Literature Series consist of
selections from Mr. Burroughs's books. No. 28, which is entitled
Birds and Bees, is made up of Bird Enemies and The Tragedies of the
Nests from the volume Signs and Seasons, An Idyl of the Honey-Bee from
Pepacton, and The Pastoral Bees from Locusts and Wild Honey.
The Introduction, by Miss Mary E. Burt, gives an account of the use of
Mr. Burroughs's writings in Chicago schools.

In No. 36, Sharp Eyes, and Other Papers, the initial paper, Sharp Eyes,
is drawn from Locusts and Wild Honey, The Apple comes from Winter
Sunshine, A Taste of Maine Birch and Winter Neighbors from Signs and
Seasons, and Notes by the Way (on muskrats, squirrels, foxes, and
woodchucks) from Pepacton.