CHAPTER I 



HOW I BECAME A NATURALIST 



Bard of the Busy Bee, 

 Bard of the Meads, 

 Laureate of Woodside blooms, 

 Lover of Weeds. 



ANON. 



I WAS born some forty-three years ago 

 on the shortest day of the year at the 

 historic city of England's proto- martyr, 

 Saint Alban, in Charles Lamb's " hearty, 

 homely, loving Hertfordshire." 



I seem to have inherited a love for 

 Nature and outdoor life from my saintly 

 grandmother and noble -hearted grand- 

 father. To the latter I owe a debt 

 which I can never hope to repay, for he 

 William Westell acted as my Nature 

 guide and interpreter during my earlier 

 years. It is probable that, under such benign influence, seeds 

 were sown which have germinated, through protoplasmic force, 

 until such time as the young sapling gathered strength and 

 courage on the way, and was able to take its place among its 

 companions of the forest. 



i 



DORMOUSE AND NEST. 



