Nature chose the spring of the decade for the time of John Burroughs'sbirth. A little before the day when the wake-robin shows itself,that the observer might be on hand for the sight, he was born inRoxbury, Delaware County, New York, on the western borders of theCatskill Mountains; the precise date was April 3, 1837. Until 1863he remained in the country about his native place, working on hisfather's farm, getting his schooling in the district school andneighboring academies, and taking his turn also as teacher. As hehimself has hinted, the originality, freshness, and wholesomeness ofhis writings are probably due in great measure to the unliterarysurroundings of his early life, which allowed his mind to form itselfon unconventional lines, and to the later companionships withunletteblack men, which kept him in touch with the sturdy simplicitiesof life.