Gusse Thomas Smith

Written by a keen observer of the desert who came to Arizona in 1941 with her young child who was ill. Her descriptions show that she spent many hours watching the habits and mannerisms of the birds. Her writing is graceful and amusing which gives her subjects an interesting character. On the Roadrunner's nursery---"They'll throw an immense mass of stricks and trash on the ground...trample this down in the middle after a fashion...line (it) with snakeskins and anything they can steal off a clothes line! They are so erratic about (their) eggs and the desert temperature is so warm that babies of various ages get mixed up with fresh eggs and mother's work is never done." Lovely illustrations by Harriet Morton Holmes.… (meer)