A YEAR WITH THE BIRDS. 



CHAPTER I. 



OXFORD: AUTUMN AND WINTER. 



FOR several years past I have contrived, even 

 on the busiest or the rainiest Oxford mornings, to 

 steal out for twenty minutes or half an hour soon 

 after breakfast, and in the Broad Walk the 

 Botanic Garden, or the Parks, to let my senses 

 exerc.se themselves on things outside me. This 

 habit dates from the time when I was an ardent 

 fisherman, and daily within reach of trout ; a long 

 spell of work in the early morning use d to be 

 effectually counteracted by an endeavour to beguile 

 a trout after breakfast. 



By^degrees, and owing to altered circumstances, 



