xxiv INTRODUCTION 



in these chapters, and will vividly recall memories 

 to those who know the country along the West 

 Coast of India southward of Bombay. 



In 1900 was published The Common Birds of 

 Bombay, which contains descriptions of the ordinary 

 birds one sees about the bungalow or in the country. 

 As is well said by the writer of the obituary notice 

 in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History 

 Society, Eha " had a special genius for seizing the 

 striking and characteristic points in the appearance 

 and behaviour of individual species and a happy 

 knack of translating them into print so as to render 

 his descriptions unmistakable. He looked upon all 

 creatures in the proper way, as if each had a soul 

 and character of its own. He loved them all, 

 and was unwilling to hurt any of them." These 

 characteristics are well shown in this book, for one 

 is able to recognise the birds easily from some 

 prominent feature described therein. 1 



The Five Windows of the Soul, published by John 

 Murray in 1898, is of quite another character from 

 the above, and was regarded by its author with 

 great affection as the best of his books. It is 

 certainly a wonderfully self-revealing book, and full 

 of the most beautiful thoughts. A second impression 



1 The illustrations axe his own work, but the blocks having 

 been produced in India, they do not do justice to the extreme 

 delicacy of workmanship and fine perception of detail which 

 characterise the originals, as all who have been privileged to see 

 these will agree. 



