PREFACE 



THESE letters, which consist chiefly of notes 

 and observations on a few of the commoner 

 objects of the Southern English Counties 

 which have from time to time come under 

 my notice, were originally written only for 

 the purpose of amusing my dear old friend 

 H. Stacy Marks, R.A., and the suggestion 

 of their publication is owing to him. It is 

 possible, as he said, that when published 

 they may be found acceptable to some who, 

 like himself, love nature for its own sake, 

 untrammelled by the prepossessions that not 

 unfrequently accompany that love among the 

 votaries of science or sport. 



The great fear that has suggested itself 



