9713 Sutherland Road
Silver Spring, Md.
January 7, 1946

Dear Mrs. Govan:

The new magazine HOLIDAY which the Curtis Publishing Company is starting in a couple of months has asked me to do a story for them on the subject of bird-banding as a hobby. We have decided that the best way to approach the subject is to tell about half a dozen or so persons who have done some outstanding or particularly interesting work in the field. I do hope I may have your permission to include you, for I feel that your story will contribute something that I should be sorry to lose from the article as a whole.

You have told your own story so effectively in your book that I should hardly need to trouble you for further information if it were not for the fact that several years have passed since its publication. What has been the story of the sanctuary since then? And of your own bird feeding and bird banding activities?

This is to be a story about bird banding (and also just bird feeding and watching) as a hobby which almost anyone who has sufficient interest may indulge in. I know that you have found it a rewarding one. Could you add anything on this to what you have already said in your book? One thing I'd especially like along this line is something about interesting people you have met as a result of your bird work.

And how about those rose breasted grosbeaks? Did Mother, Big Boy, and Baby come back to you after 1940, and did some other individuals eventually exceed even the records of these three?

I spent several weeks in your part of the world last fall, and had I known then I was going to do this story I would certainly have made an effort to see you. But I know that you can give me what I want through correspondence, and I hope you won't think it too much trouble to do so. I do believe the article will serve a good purpose in interesting more people in birds and their protection, so I feel like putting every thing I can into making it a good one.

It is possible that the editors may want to
send a photographer to take some pictures. Some winter
Kodachromes showing purple finches, grosbeaks, and other
colorful winter birds against the snow ought to be
very effective.

I have always found that a common interest in
birds was enough to introduce one person to another.
However, to this I might add that both Mr. Lincoln
and Mr. Westwood are good friends of mine.

Since I do want to get the article in while
editorial interest is high, may I hear from you very
soon?

Sincerely yours,

Mrs. Ada C. Govan
32 Woodland Road
Lexington, Mass.

9713 Sutherland Road
Silver Spring, Md.
January 20, 1946

Dear Mrs. Govan:

This is just a hasty acknowledgment
of your splendid letter, which has given me exactly
the material I needed. You were very kind to take
the time to write out all your good information by
hand for me. I hope one day to have the pleasure
of thanking you personally.

My writing is a part time occupation, but
with luck I hope to have a first draft of the story
ready within the next week or two, and will then mail
a copy of your section for verification. I like to
get things right, too!

As you will see, my choice of banders is not
based on numbers of birds banded, because it seems
to me that is a secondary consideration. I have,
instead, selected people who have done work that is,
on one way or another, particularly interesting or
unusual, and have tried to select examples that give
as much variety as possible. Your story seems to me
one of the most remarkable in the whole field because
of its influence on human lives.

I must tell you that in your book I loved your
solution of the cat problem, and plan to cite it as
a model. You see, our family contains two cats who
have never in their 11½ years caught a bird, and who
love to sit inside the window and watch the birds
outside.

Also, I enjoyed knowing about the grosbeaks who
live in your dining room. One summer we had to turn
over out screened porch to two young robins we were
raising.

You will hear from me soon. Meanwhile, again
my thanks, and the best of luck to you.

Very sincerely,

February 26, 1946

Dear Mrs. Govan,

Thank you for the prompt return of the manuscript. I should have told you to mark it up freely, it was just a rough copy. Your suggestions are very much to the point, and clarify several things I wasn't quite sure about. The only one I am not likely to use is the expression "fiscal year" - the term always seems to me an artificial creation of bookkeepers, not worthy to be mentioned in the same sentence with birds! So we might say, "the winter of 1943-44," or something like that. You have been most helpful, not to say forbearing! I'm sure I should not like at all to have some one writing about me, and I'd want to change a lot!

One or two questions: on the manuscript, you have written in "114 identified species" (where I say your birds number uncountable thousands, including scores of species). But where you rewrote the paragraph, you said 14. I assume the latter was a slip, for it seems much too few, even though 114 makes me blink!

Then about the number of editions of your book - MacMillan wrote me in response to a query that it had run to "five sizable editions." Perhaps they only counted editions of a certain size - or maybe there is a technical distinction known to publishers between editions and printings. Would you want to clarify this with them?

I'm going to be very frank and tell you - off the record - that I'm deeply disappointed in Holiday. The day I mailed your material, I came home with a copy to examine, and I have had a sinking feeling inside ever since. I know that I'm going to have to sit down and rework all my material, or they won't look at it twice. As you know, in writing for magazines, one has to make an effort to "slant" his material toward the tastes, prejudices, phobias, etc. of the editors. With Holiday, I was pretty much in the dark, for of course I'd never seen a copy. From my conversations with one of the editors, however, I thought I could safely work up the material pretty much as I did.

In my original draft, you and Dr. Austin are the only ones who are given more than a page or two. But the whole manuscript is about 7,000 words, which means I'll have to cut it approximately in half. So your story, and his, will have to be cut down, much as I hate to do it.

I don't intend to alter the style materially, though, and if in the end they decide it is not for them, perhaps I can place it elsewhere. As for your material, with some additions to the present draft, I think some one else might like a story just about you. But be assured I'll let you see any new versions in good time.

In sending the material the other day, I forgot there was another paragraph about you in a later, general section, So I'm including it now.

Please don't order my book. It will be a great pleasure to send you a copy, as a small thank you for all your help.

By the way, Mr. Russell Mason was in my office a couple of weeks ago, and Miss Cooke (who keeps the banding records, you know) happened to be there at the same time. Perhaps your ears burned, for some very nice things were said about you. Miss Cooke has given me a tremendous lot of help with the article, getting data from the files, and making suggestions. I took the liberty of sharing some of your material with her. She said, "Oh, isn't this delicious!"

I did enjoy so much the article about your grosbeaks in a recent number of the Massachusetts bulletin.

Well, it's time I stop writing letters, and see what I can do about rewriting that article!

Very sincerely,

March 10, 1946

Dear Mrs. Govan,

Probably you would like to see how
the entire article looks in its finished form, so
here it is. Would you please return it to me when
you have read it?

The job of cutting I had to do was
really painful, but I knew there would be no hope
of acceptance unless I did it.

MacMillans wired me a correction of
their earlier letter, and you will see that the
matter is straightened out now. It was just a dif-
ference in the meaning of "printing" and "edition"
which I, for one, do not understand!

A copy of *UNDER THE SEA WIND* went to
you on Friday. I hope you enjoy reading it, in
return for all the pleasure you have given me, both
through your book and by your letters. Thank you
so very much for the help you have given me.

I'll let you know what happens about
the story.

Very sincerely,

Letter to Mrs. Govan from Walter S. Olsen, Mission Station in Bombay

"Just as I was in the middle of the book, a cable reached me from Chicago telling of the sudden death of my Mother. During the dark hours that followed, I found something in the book that made the burden lighter --

There is so little of the American way of living here -- we are driven to other things-- especially nature study. I find there is a great interest among our missionaries in bird study, and your book is making the rounds of all our mission stations. I would appreciate it if you would give me the names of a few books which would be especially interesting and helpful to the beginning of bird study.

-- Book is opening a new avenue for many of us, here on the other side of the world.

WASHINGTON
BANKRUPT OR LIHEADING
DEBTORS OF COW

March 22, 1946

Dear Mrs. Govan,

I have wanted to answer your good letters long before this, but perhaps it is just as well, for now I have news for you. This morning's mail brought a note from HOLIDAY, accepting the article and promising a check of highly satisfactory size. Of course I am very happy to have placed it on the first try, even though I have said unkind things about the quality of the magazine! I believe it is true, however, that one can't tell very much by the initial numbers, which must necessarily be largely staff-written. Perhaps after more writers learn about it, we shall see a change. Apparently they are not going to ask me to make any revisions, nor even to cut it more!

What I hope now is that the Reader's Digest may wish to reprint it, for that will give the article much wider circulation. Did they ever do a condensation of your book, by the way?

Of course I am happy indeed that UNDER THE SEA WIND pleased you so much. Your feeling for birds and all wild things would make you especially sympathetic with what I tried to accomplish in writing the book. Even though it was not a profitable venture in the narrow sense, it was an extremely satisfying experience to be allowed to write what I wanted to write, and to express what I really felt. The trouble with this more lucrative writing for magazines is that one cannot do that, as a rule!

So you, too, love Henry Williamson! He has influenced my writing more than any one else, and to have you link my book with his is the greatest tribute you could possibly pay it. You speak only of Salar. Do you not also know his "Tarka, the Otter"? If you do not, you have in store for you a treat at least equal to reading Salar. In some respects, the otter book seems to me even a finer and more deeply sensitive work. It came first, and was a sort of labor of love that Williamson worked over for years, until even he was satisfied. The salmon book was, in a way, an outgrowth of this, written at the request of an editor and against the harsh necessities of an early dead line.

"Tarka" was published in the Penguin Book series (it is number 81) and as a matter of fact it is this little 35-cent volume that I own. If you have read only the condensation of "Salar" do get the complete volume from the library, for you will love every word of it.

I wonder whether you know Henry Beston's "Outermost House". I have a feeling you would love it. That, and the two Williamson books, are the volumes I would most certainly grab for the proverbial sojourn on a desert island. The Beston work is the story of a year the author spend living alone in a little house on an isolated Cape Cod beach. It is written with great simplicity and beauty, and with a feeling for the great rhythms of nature.

But I go on and on! Now what I want to tell you is that I may possibly have a trip to Boston and beyond some time this spring. If I do, I hope very much it may be possible to see you. I have enjoyed so very much coming to know you through this correspondence - an experience I have shared with my mother (another great bird lover) to her equal delight, but I do want to meet you. The Fish and Wildlife Service, for which you know, I do educational work, wants me to visit the Parker River Refuge, and while details are not settled, it looks as though I might make the trip fairly soon. If it happens, I'll let you know in advance when I'll be in your neighborhood.

The MacMillan letter I enclose for your files. It merely confirms an earlier telegram changing their original "five editions" to "fourteen printings."

I have been so busy that I have not had a chance to see Mr. Westwood. But I'll phone him soon and let him know what happened to the bending story.

Do let me hear from you from time to time. And I'll be watching for your articles in the Massachusetts Bulletin.

Very sincerely,

WINGS
AT MY
WINDOW

By ADA CLAPHAM GOVAN

Illustrated by DOROTHY BAYLEY

This is a true story, vital, human and intensely interesting, of a woman's physical and spiritual regeneration, brought about by her hospitality to birds. With no background of bird knowledge, she attracted to her yard an amazing number and variety of birds. Although her primary interest was to befriend them, her scientific achievements have been astounding. Now she tells the story of these intimate bird associations in a book which will delight every reader.

A beautiful book, full of hope and courage

WINGS AT MY WINDOW

The Boston Post says:

"It is one of those precious books written straight from the heart, with a deep love of the birds as its sole motive and purpose —that others might catch the glow of her deep affection for our tiny feathered friends, and do their bit to help them."

WHEN Mrs. Govan fed a tiny gray chickadee one bleak December day, she was embarking on a new phase of her life. Here at her window she found a new world. In this moving story she tells of her growing interest in birds, how she and her son made feeding trays, and bird "hotels" out of orange crates. She had to learn how to feed the birds; some of them had very choosy appetites and individual tastes. The chickadees gobbled short pie crust while the cedar waxwings preferred sunflower seeds. The fame of her steamed raisins has spread through birdland. She tells the hilarious story of how she, her husband, and her son were almost outwitted by a determined chewink before they triumphantly banded their first bird; she tells of the mystery and beauty of the courtship of the purple finches. Her book is full of sound advice and tips for those who want to attract birds to their home.

The New York Times Book Review says:

"Mrs. Govan's writing is never sentimental; on the contrary it is concrete, anecdotal and briskly informative. But her unpretentious and unusual book has a real loveliness. And Dorothy Bayley's drawings are full of perky charm."

The Library Journal says:

"Mrs. Govan's descriptions of bird plumage, of bird individuality, of bird behavior, especially love-making scenes, are entrancing and sympathetic. There is a chapter on teaching children to love birds, written with deep feeling and sincerity."

April 1, 1946

Dear Mrs. Govan,

This is just a quick note to say
how much I enjoyed your letter - I always do! -
and also to add that there is nothing very definite
as yet about when I'll make the trip to Parker
River. But when I do come, I'll probably be in
your general neighborhood for most of a week, so
that we'll have an opportunity, I hope, to plan
for a visit.

Please do not apologize for the
sanctuary, or for anything. I know very well that
what birds like is not beautiful landscaping. We
have kept two discarded Christmas trees under the
dining room window all winter as shelter for the
birds we feed there, to the scandalized disapproval
of our landlord, who does not think it looks nice.
Anyway, I just want to meet you, and your grosbeaks.

It seems that HOLIDAY will want to
take some pictures. Some can be done in the vicinity
of Philadelphia, but if they can arrange to send
a photographer to Boston, I am wondering whether it
would place to great a burden on you to arrange for
something at your place. Even though you are doing
little banding just now, you are probably feeding
the birds and some thing very nice could be gotten.
I'd like very much to have it. If you would do it
for us, I wish you'd suggest just about when this
spring you think would be the best time. I can just
see some color photographs of some of those wonderful
birds that come to you. I doubt if they will print
the article before fall, so they could probably do
the photography any time into early summer. Let me
have a word about this soon, will you please?

Yours, as ever -

Miss Rachel L. Carson

3 Parker Street
Newburyport
Mass.

To Mrs. Charles Ramlitt.

February 15, 1947

Dear Mrs. Govan,

Your letters are always such a joy to receive! And they also make me very much aware how little I have done to deserve them - two wretched little notes in many months. So this time, at least, I am going to do better.

To you who have had so many evening grosbeaks in other years perhaps a flock of 75 does seem "few" but to us it is almost beyond imagination. Perhaps I told you that last winter when the grosbeaks made their first visit in many years to this area, we drove over to one of the Virginia suburbs early one Sunday morning to see them at the feeding station of one of the Audubon members, and were delighted when a mere dozen or so appeared. The total flock there was about 30. This year, on the anniversary of their first appearance there last winter - even to the hour - a solitary pair came to this same place and reappeared every morning for about a week. So far as I know, that is the extent of the District's grosbeak visitation this year. But of other birds, too, you know we never have anything approaching the numbers you have fed. Half a dozen purple finches breakfasting with us seems quite exciting.

This brings me around to saying that I think you underestimate the interest and importance of what goes on in your back yard. It is how you feel about the birds that come there and the way you can share your experiences with others that count; and anybody who has read "Wings" knows what you can do along those lines. Look what Fabre got out of observing the insects of one very small piece of ground; Teale has written about, and photographed, the insects in his background to the extent of several books and countless magazine articles. I am sure you have lots more material at hand than you realize. And I am also sure that you have what it takes to make something out of it.

Instead of another book now, have you thought of doing some magazine articles? I am going to sound very materialistic, but after all if one is to live even in part by writing, he may as well look at the facts. Except for the rare miracles where a book becomes a "best seller," I am convinced that writing a book is a very poor gamble financially. This is based not only on my own experience (which, heaven knows, confirms it fully) but on what friends in the publishing business tell me. The average book will earn its author very little more than one magazine article placed with the "right" magazine.

I should think you might do something for women's magazines like Good Housekeeping or Ladies Home Journal. This class of magazines, I am told, pay absolutely top prices - higher, even than the Saturday Evening Post. Then, for just little pot boilers, you could do a different kind of piece for magazines like Better Homes and Gardens, American Home, etc., and still a different kind (for not much money, to be sure) for Nature Magazine and Natural History. You see, the same basic material can be worked up in so many different ways, if you will just stand off and look at it from different points of view, and think what different groups of readers will want to know about. For example, in your years of experience, you have certainly accumulated lots of practical information about what kind of shrubbery, etc. the birds like and need. Well, write a little piece about that for some garden magazine, telling how people can attract a greater number of birds to their homes by the right kind of planting. Do another about home made feeders, nesting boxes, etc.

Then, in your own grosbeak family, I think you have material for a whole series of wonderful little stories that might be published separately - oh, perhaps in the Atlantic, or Good Housekeeping - lots of places - and eventually gathered together and there you would have book no. 2, with income from the magazines and the royalties too! Have you read Gustav Eckstein's (not sure of spelling) "Canary?" And I think there was another about the same group of birds - a little family of canaries that had the freedom of his laboratory and whom he came to know and understand very intimately and wonderfully. Parts of it will break your heart (I'm warning you this time!) but it is done so beautifully and sympathetically that it is a wonderful achievement. You could do as much with your bird family!

Now I hope you will forgive me for offering so much advice about what you ought to do. But your comments about another book set me thinking, and very soon I could see all sorts of things just waiting for you to write them. Unfortunately, I do not myself apply the advice I give others, with the result that I write nothing and am fast coming to feel that I have lost what it takes to produce a companion to that first and solitary book.

No, my life isn't at all well ordered and I don't know where I'm going! I know that if I could choose what seems to me the ideal existence, it would be just to live by writing. But I have done far too little to dare risk it. And all the while my job with the Service grows and demands more and more of me, leaving less time that I could put on my own writing. And as my salary increases little by little, it becomes even more impossible to give it up!