xii CONTENTS 



CHAPTER X 



PAGES 



Wolmer Forest Charm of contrast and novelty in scenery 

 Aspect of Wolmer Heath and pine Colour of water and soil 

 An old woman's recollections Story of the " Selborne 

 mob" Past and present times compared Hollywater Clump 

 Age of trees Bird life in the forest Teal in their breeding 

 haunts Boys in the forest Story of the horn-blower . . 223-240 



CHAPTER XI 



The Hampshire people Racial differences in neighbouring 

 counties A neglected subject Inhabitants of towns Gentry 

 and peasantry Four distinct types The common blonde type 

 Lean women Deleterious effects of tea-drinking A shep- 

 herd's testimony A mixed race The Anglo-Saxon Case of 

 reversion of type Un-Saxon character of the British Dark- 

 eyed Hampshire people Racial feeling with regard to eye- 

 colours The Iberian type Its persistence Character of the 

 small dark man Dark and blonde children A dark village 

 child ... 241-264 



CHAPTER XII 



Test and Itcheu Vegetation Riverside villages The 

 cottage by the river Itchen valley Blossoming limes Bird 

 visitors Goldfinch Cirl bunting Song Plumage Three 

 common river birds Coots Moor-hen and nest Little grebes' 

 struggles Male grebe's devotion Parent coot's wisdom A 

 more or less happy family Dogged little grebes Grebes train- 

 ing their young Fishing birds and fascination . . . 265-288 



CHAPTER XIII 



Morning in the valley Abundance of swifts Unlikeness to 

 other birds Mayfly and swallows Mayfly and swift Bad 

 weather and hail Swallows in the rain Sand martins An 

 orphaned blackbird Tamed by feeding Survival of gregarious 

 instinct in young blackbirds Blackbird's good-night Cirl 

 buntings Breeding habits and language Habits of the young 

 Reed bunting Beautiful weather The oak in August . 289-308 



