Till PREFACE. 



have I covered my hand with scratches, from the pricldes of 

 briars and brambles, in my attempts to gain a satisfactory view 

 of a nest and its contents, without causing any disarrangement, 

 well knowing how great was the risk of desertion if the parent 

 birds should discover anything amiss ; and, when deserted, if I 

 knew not the builders, a nest was valueless. How well was I' 

 repaid for bleeding hands, if I discovered but one point in the 

 history of a species. Eggs strung on bents are rife in all 

 country places ; old nests are easy to be seen when the leaves 

 are gone ; birds are plentiful m every hedge-row, and their song 

 is the burthen of the passing breeze : but to connect with 

 certainty each bird with its mate ; to assign it the proper nest 

 and proper eggs ; to learn the exact tiane of its arrival and its 

 departure ; — all this is a study, a labour, rarely undertaken, and 

 affords a pleasure akin to that which must be felt by a traveller 

 exploring countries where man has not before trodden." Let 

 the reader turn to the first chapter of the ' Letters of Eusticus,' 

 from which the foregoing extract is taken, and observe with 

 what microscopic, yet loving and living, detail the natural 

 features of the neighbourhood of Godalmiug are pourtrayed. 

 No words can give so true an account of these ten years spent 

 at Godalming as the ' Letters of Eusticus.' Extract after 

 extract might be quoted, all to the point, and of exceeding 

 interest ; but the short space which can be allowed to this brief 

 memou- does not permit. 



It will be noticed that ' Eusticus ' is here spoken of as the 

 actual work of Mr. Newman. This brings forward the once- 

 vexed question of the authorship of those charming 'Letters.' 

 To few besides the author's near relatives has the secret 

 been divulged ; even Edward Doubleday, his nearest friend 

 and second self, was kept in ignorance of the actual fact, 

 although he, in common with most naturalists, had a shrewd 

 suspicion. When the 'Letters' appeared in the 'Magazine 

 of Natural History ' and the ' Entomological Magazine ' they 

 caused quite a sensation in Godalming. "Written by one who 

 knew Godalmiug so well, who was so able a writer, as well 

 as so skilled a naturalist ; yet no one was able to discover the 

 author. After much discussion they were finally attributed to 

 the late Mr. J. D. Salmon. The veil mav noAV bo withdrawn. 



