PREFACE 



This book is more than a mere reprint of 

 Birds in a Village first published in 1893. That 

 was my first book about bird life, with some im- 

 pressions of rural scenes, in England; and, as is 

 often the case with a first book, its author has 

 continued to cherish a certain affection for it. On 

 this account it pleased me when its turn came to 

 be reissued, since this gave me the opportunity 

 of mending some faults in the portions retained 

 and of throwing out a good deal of matter which 

 appeared to me not worth keeping. 



The first portion, "Birds in a Village," has 

 been mostly rewritten with some fresh matter 

 added, mainly later observations and incidents in- 

 troduced in illustration of the various subjects 

 discussed. For the concluding portion of the old 

 book, which has been discarded, I have substituted 

 entirely new matter — the part entitled *'Birds in 

 a Cornish Village.** 



