vi PREFACE 



marsh, swamp, or pond, and he will then understand 

 what I mean. In fact, to be a field naturalist in 

 England, is to be a field ornithologist, and more 

 often than not I speak from experience a waster 

 of one's time altogether. Unless you are prepared 

 to be always unnaturally interested in the commonest 

 matters, and not ashamed to pass as a genius by a 

 never-ending barren allusion to them, be assured 

 that you will often feel immensely dissatisfied with 

 the way in which you have spent your day. Many 

 a weary wandering, many an hour's waiting and 

 waiting to see, and seeing nothing, will be yours if 

 you aim at more than this and to read a book is 

 fatal. But there is the per contra, and what that is 

 I know very well. Of a few such per contras they 

 were to me, and I can only hope that some may be 

 so to the reader these " Bird Life Glimpses " are 



made up. 



EDMUND SELOUS. 



CHELTENHAM, May 1905. 



