PREFACE 



This book is more than a mere reprint of Birds 

 in a Village first published in 1893. That was my 

 first book about bird life, with some impressions of 

 rural scenes, in England ; and, as is often the case 

 with a irst book, its author has continued to cherish 

 a certain affection for it. On this account it pleased 

 me when its turn came to be reissued, since this 

 gave me the opportunity of mending some faults 

 in the portions retained and of throwing out a good 

 deal of matter which appeared to me not worth 

 keeping. 



The first portion, " Birds in a Village," has been 

 mostly rewritten with some fresh matter added, 

 mainly later observations and incidents introduced 

 in illustration of the various subjects discussed. For 

 the concluding portion of the old book, which has 

 been discarded, I have substituted entirely new 

 matter — ^the part entitled " Birds in a G)mish 

 Village." 



Between these tw(J long parts there are five 

 shorter essays which I have retained with little 

 alteration, and these in one or two instances are 

 consequently out of date, especially in what was 



