PREFACE vii 



selves. They are, both of them, " attached to the 

 soil," in the best sense of that phrase, by hereditary 

 instincts, by association of ideas, and by inclination. 

 It is natural, therefore, in one who loves the country in 

 all its aspects, to endeavour to give to his favourite 

 birds something of a human setting or background, 

 especially when the inhabitants are so interesting 

 in themselves, and have, as yet, been so little 

 influenced by the rush and crush of modern town 

 life. 



Birds have been to me the solace, the recreation, 

 the passion of a lifetime, the more serious and 

 continuous work of which has lain in quite other 

 directions ; and in collecting, now that I am some- 

 what advanced in years, some of my out-of-door 

 experiences, and the results of such study of the 

 literature of the subject as I have been able to give 

 to it, into the form of a book, my object has been 

 twofold : first, to communicate, as far as possible, 

 to others, some portion of the enduring happiness 

 which the love of birds has given to me ; and, 

 secondly, to do all that lies in my power towards 

 the preservation of all birds, more especially of 

 those interesting and beautiful species which are 

 habitually persecuted till, in many parts of the 

 country, they are threatened with actual extinction ; 



