vi CONTENTS 



PAGES 



in sainfoin Field scabious Fertile spots Dropwort and 

 heath Harebells Brilliant colour and intensity of life 

 Minute flowers of the turf Old Gerarde Eyebright : its 

 obscure habits The dwarf thistle. 



CHAPTER IV 

 A FAIRY FAUNA . > ....... 59-71 



Insect-life of the downs Common snail Adder-like 

 colouring of some snails The "thrushes' anvil" Eccentric 

 motions of flies Peculiar colouring of some flies The cow- 

 dung fly A thyme-loving fly Butterflies Disposition and 

 habits of the small blue Sleep in insects The humble-bee 

 Intoxicating effect of thistle flower on bees The unknown 

 faculties of insects De Quincey's "gluttonism." 



CHAPTER V 

 WILD LIFE 72-102 



Wild life confined to the furze The rabbit and his 

 enemy The fox abundant A badgers' earth Tenacity of 

 the badger Dead shrews Moles without water Catching 

 moles for fun A shepherd on moles Birds Extinct species 

 A shepherd's reminiscences Buzzards building on bushes 

 Black game in Ashdown Forest The last stone curlew 

 Long-eared owl Pre-natal suggestion in the lower animals 

 Existing large birds A colony of gulls at Seaford Kestrel 

 preying on grasshoppers Turtle-dove Missel-thrush and 

 small birds Wheatears and sea-poppies Shrike The com- 

 mon lizard's weakness Sheep killed by adders Beauty of 

 the adder A handful of adders Shepherd boy and big 

 snake. 



CHAPTER VI 



THE SHEPHERD OF THE DOWNS .... 103-125 



The shepherd as a picturesque figure His best qualities 

 racial The Saxon type predominant in downland The 

 peasant's good looks A great beer-drinker Scene in a village 

 public- house Bad and good qualities of the peasant Charac- 

 ter in a small boy Beauty of person A labourer's family 

 A pet lamb and the Salvation Army A Sussex maid Persis- 

 tence of type The Culpepper family The shepherd's good 

 looks Contented minds A talk with a shepherd. 



