PREFACE 



"A Btish Calendar" was commenced with the idea of sharing 

 with other bush lovers the pleasures which I myself have found in my 

 walks, and it appeared originally on the Page for Women of the 

 ' ' Sydney Morning Herald. ' ' As the seasons advanced letters of en- 

 couragement were received from many readers who ' 'knew their Bush' ' 

 and from some who admittedly had not found the key which unlocks 

 the book of Nature ; and it is at the request of many of these unknown 

 friends that the articles are reprinted. Although the book is not 

 intended to be a complete scientific record, the lists of flowers and birds 

 most in prominence each month have been so greatly extended that 

 they may claim to be fairly representative of the coastal districts 

 around Sydney. 



My thanks are due to the proprietors of the "Sydney Morning 

 Herald" for permission to reprint ; to Mr. R. Hale for the cover 

 design ; to Mr. F. W. McLean for photographs of gtdly path and 

 sunlit bracken; to Mr. A. Read for photograph of kookaburra ; to 

 Mr. J. Ramsay for photographs of yellow robins, fantail, jacky 

 winter, mopokes, kingfisher's nest, young honey-eaters, lambert wren, 

 and black-caps ; to my husband for the remaining bird photographs 

 and some of the flowers ; and to Mr. S. W. Bacon for his personal 

 interest in the engraving of the illustrations. 



The native rose, eriostemon, dwarf apple, rock lilies, and banksia 

 are from Kerry & Co.'s copyright photographs. 



A. E. H. 

 Killara, 1909. 



