HISTORY OF BRITISH BIRDS 89 



birds figured, and these must have presented great 

 difficulty to the engraver ; indeed, it was thought by 

 some critics that it would have been better to have 

 omitted them altogether on this account. 



The sale of this work, although much more re- 

 stricted than that of the " Birds/' was, nevertheless, 

 considerable. Three editions of it went through the 

 press in the author's lifetime, the last of these having 

 been revised by him only the year before his death. 



It was while the treatise on " Nests and Eggs of 

 British Birds" was in course of publication that 

 it was determined, by an arrangement with Mr. 

 Fawcett, to bring out the "Natural History of 

 British Butterflies" in monthy parts, so that for a 

 time material for no less than three separate works 

 had to be prepared for the press month by month. 

 This would sorely have tried the energies of many 

 men of less industrious and methodical habits than 

 the author. To him, however, to all outward ap- 

 pearance at least, it seemed to present no serious 

 difficulty, even while he was with all faithfulness 

 and diligence discharging the manifold duties of 

 his higher calling in life. It was only at odd times, 

 so to speak, that he devoted himself to his literary 

 work ; but opportunities were quickly seized at all 

 hours, and the most made of them. No minutes 

 were lost. A very considerable proportion of the 

 " British Birds " was written in the evening, and 

 that of the last three volumes mainly in the drawing- 

 room of Nunburnholme Rectory. By a remarkable 

 power of abstraction, he appeared to be able to 



