1 78 WITHIN AN HOUR OF LONDON TOWN. 



fowler. So was William M'Gillivray, the author of 

 ' British Birds.' Whilst in the notes to ' The Lays 

 of the Deer Forest,' by John Sobieski and Charles 

 Edward Stuart, are to be found very fine descrip- 

 tions of wild creatures and wild scenery. 



The last, but by no means the least, important 

 work that I turn to, is that by G. Christopher 

 Davies, who regretfully states in his Preface that 

 his book is positively the last descriptive writing 

 anent the Norfolk Broads. As I have said before, 

 the Fens have been generally considered to be the 

 great strongholds of fowl. They were this, at any 

 rate, before draining operations were commenced. 

 But the Broads, those vast expanses of pure and 

 comparatively shallow waters, have, from times 

 beyond record, been equally productive, in propor- 

 tion, perhaps, more so than those great Fens which 

 have now been drained. One great fact must be 

 remembered : the Broads, or fresh-water lagoons, 

 remain in almost their primitive condition, the haunt 

 of fowl and of fish as in former days ; whereas the 

 Fens have practically almost ceased to exist. On 

 the first page of his delightful and most accurate 

 work, the author places the bird-life of the swamps 



