NOT JUST FOR THE BIRDS

Image Gallery

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

Of birdhouses, bullets and just plain beautiful American prose

A one-book tour through the best American nature writing

Somewhere along the way, we lost the capacity to design perfect natural houses—all we can do now is hire architects and hope for the best. The sad part is that we then try to impose our artificially upon other creatures.

Grits Gresham knowns guns and knows how to write about them!

THESE THOUGHTS ARE EXPANDED in the introductory pages of Malcolm Wells's Classic Architectural Birdhouses and Feeders ($9.95 postpaid from Malcolm Wells, P.O. Box 1149, Brewster, MA 02631; Massachusetts residents add 5% sales tax). The author, of course, is best known for his works on earth-sheltered housing and is universally recognized as an accomplished advocate of underground design.

His latest effort is a presentation of more than 20 bird-accommodating habitats designed to meet two most important criteria—respect for the environment and for the needs of the creatures themselves. Hence, we're encouraged to forage for any and all indigenous materials: "You shouldn't have to pay for anything but the nails; if the birds can scrounge [everything] they need, surely we can manage to round up a few pieces of scrap wood. . . . Should the nails come in a plastic pack, dump its contents onto the store counter and ask for an organic paper bag."

Not surprisingly, the structures that Wells has chosen to detail from his own 40-year collection—in line drawings, with dimensions, exploded views and plan layouts—are nothing like the "silly-looking bird boxes, embarrassing us out-of-doors," to which we've acquiesced over time. They're clever, inconspicuous and a well-thought-out blend of aesthetics and a consciousness of species engineering. And besides, how many opportunities do you get to commission an architect to design your birdhouses?— RF

True Grits

Grits Gresham is probably the best-known outdoor writer in America. Even if you've never picked up a copy of Sports Afield (where he's served as shooting editor for 14 years), odds are you've encountered his writing in one of the many other publications, some decidedly not "outdoor" oriented, that have been pleased to feature it. Or, perhaps, you might have seen him on ABC's "The American Sportsman," which Grits hosted for 13 years. And, barring all that, you've almost certainly seen him, Western-hatted and gray sideburns bristling, in one of the Miller Lite beer commercials.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print