She described her experiences in "My Summer in a Mormon Village". Unlike her other bird-oriented writing, this book was a travel narrative. Her second trip to Twin Oaks, where she studied birds, mounted on horseback, resulted in the publication of "A-Birding on a Bronco". (This was the first book to be illustrated by Louis Agassiz Fuertes.) On her return from the west, Florence made her home with her brother C. Hart in Washington, D.C., where she worked to organize local chapters of the Women's National Science Club. Merriam followed up with a second bird guide of somewhat wider scope (more than 150 species) in 1898 with her "Birds of Village and Field", another book written for the beginner. On December 18, 1899, she married Vernon Bailey, Chief Field Naturalist for the United States Bureau of Biological Survey and a colleague of C. Hart's. After a few other residences, they built their home at 1834 Kalorama Road, N.W., in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington. Among the visitors to the Baileys' home were the naturalist-turned-inventor Clarence Birdseye and the botanist Alice Eastwood. The wildlife artist Charles R. Knight provided the centerpiece of the home's library, a painted portrait of a tiger in repose. The Baileys befriended the young naturalist couple Olaus Murie and Margaret "Mardy" Murie, and they became regular guests at the Washington residence. Florence's next accomplishment was a major work of ornithology and a complement to Frank Chapman's "Handbook of Birds of the Eastern United States". Drawing on the best available published work, study of specimens with the assistance of Robert Ridgway of the Smithsonian Institution, 600 illustrations from numerous sources, and her own field work, she published "Handbook of Birds of the Western United States" in 1902. The book would remain a standard reference in regional ornithology for at least 50 years. Without sacrificing technical precision, the handbook included vivid descriptions of behaviors like nesting, feeding, and vocalization, information that has been de-emphasized in the literature that followed. The naturalist couple traveled widely and they were together responsible for encouraging many youngsters take up studies in natural history. Over the next three decades, Florence and Vernon covered much of the American West. They explored southern California in 1907, North Dakota (Florence visited in 1909, 1912, and 1916), coastal Oregon in 1914, and Glacier National Park in 1917.