PREFACE. V 



study of her works his greatest delight ; while a 

 residence of many years on the coast, as well as 

 in the interior, of Sussex, has afforded him ad- 

 vantages which do not fall to the lot of every 

 local observer. 



The illustrations are taken from drawings made 

 on the spot by the author. The " Heron alight- 

 ing on its Nest," as depicted in the Frontispiece, 

 was sketched by him while concealed among the 

 upper branches of an adjoining tree, under the 

 circumstances narrated at page 27, and is a faith- 

 ful representation of the attitude of the bird at 

 that moment. 



Although from the desultory nature of these 

 papers he has sometimes thrown off the restraint 

 which a rigid adherence to systematic order 

 might have imposed upon him, yet with the view 

 of imparting to the work a more scientific charac- 

 ter than it would otherwise possess, and at the 

 same time increasing its utility for purposes of 

 reference and comparison, the arrangement ob- 

 served by Mr. Yarrell in his admirable work on 



