Margaret Morse Nice

And it's the anniversary of the death of the ornithologist, Margaret Morse Nice, who died on this day in 1974.
 
Nice developed a close bond with nature, especially birds; it was deepened with her hobby of gardening and frequent walks.
 
In 1939 nice wrote these words in the opening pages of her book, The Watcher at the Nest:

“The land was defended and won by age-old ceremonies and fierce battle…. Their conflicts with each other and their neighbors, their luck with their wives and devotion to their babies… the fortunes of their sons and daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren—all these were watched season in and season out until tragedy overtook them.” 

It's hard to believe when you hear that passage that Nice is referring to song sparrows.
 
She was the scientific outsider. She conducted all of her groundbreaking studies at home, in her backyard in Ohio, while she was busy raising a family of five children.