Long After Their Associates Have Gone Southward

Long after their associates have gone southward, they linger like the last leaves on the tree.   It is indeed "good-bye to summer" when the bluebirds withdraw their touch of brightness from the dreary November landscape at the north to whirl through the southern woods and feed on the waxy berries of the mistletoe.

Note: Today is the birthday of the nature writer and poet Neltje Blanchan, who was born on this day in 1865.  Neltje married Frank Doubleday, and their grandson, Nelson, would go on to be the president of the Doubleday publishing company.

Neltje wrote under the pen name Neltje Blanchon ("Nel-jah Blahn-chon"), and she especially loved wildflowers and birds. In 1897, she wrote a book called Bird Neighbors.

In 1907, Neltje Blanchan wrote that children should get to know birds.  She also wrote a book called The American Flower Garden and also one called Wild Flowers Worth Knowing.