3 ^> 
ROUND THE YEAR.- 
Round the Year: a Series of Short Nahire-Studies. By Prof. L. C. Miall, 
F.R.S. With illustrations chiefly by A. E. Hammond, F.L.S. Macmillan & 
Co., 8vo, pp. 295, 72 figs. Price 5s. 
Pr is not the fault of “A Son of the Marshes” that his new book In the 
Green Leaf and the Sere is in some respects the least attractive of his volumes. 
He must blame his publishers — or some other ill adviser — for the attempt to add 
to the charm of his writings by the addition of illustrations. There are, of 
course, artists who would succeed in this attempt, but Mr. D. C. Nicholl, who 
gives us his notion of birds and their haunts, is not of their number. It would 
be charitable to suppose that these had been taken from stuffed specimens of an 
inferior kind ; assuredly the giant grass which overtops the nightingales (p. 85) 
never grew in such a position ; never were such rooks seen as those on p. 162 ; but 
the climax of absurdity is reached in the alder on which the hawfinch is placed 
{p. 201) — the marvellous catkins and fruit are unlike anything hitherto recorded 
in our British flora. Mr. Haile’s little landscapes which appear at the heads and 
ends of chapters are pretty and harmless enough, but the book does not need 
illustrations, and poor pictures are neither useful nor ornamental. 
Yet another grumble. We have never understood why this author’s books 
needed to be “ edited by J. A. Owen.” At first we supposed that some shyness 
on his part had only been overcome through Mrs. Owen’s encouragement, and 
that she had, as it were, introduced him to the reading public. But the welcome 
extended to his articles by various magazines made it clear that continued super- 
vision was unnecessary, and that his own name was sufficient recommendation. 
We are led to make this comment because the editor contributes a note to this 
volume in which she “craves indulgence” for “a few errors,” on the ground 
that, for various reasons, she “was unable to see the book through the press.” 
Under these circumstances we cannot help feeling that it would have been better 
to have omitted Mrs. Owen’s name from the title-page ; for surely an editor is 
expected to edit ? 
For the book itself, apart from its illustrations and the typographical errors, 
which last are more numerous than Mrs. Owen seems to think, we have nothing 
but praise. Eleven chapters embrace the course of the year, dealing for the most 
part with birds — with whom the author always seems at home — but including 
chapters on fishes, and woodcraft, shooting and shooters, and a very interesting 
one entitled “ Old Recollections,” many of which are scattered elsewhere up and 
down the book. Very true is his reflection “ It seems to me that much of the 
useful as well as the beautiful has been ‘ improved ’ away.” “ Our old farmers,” 
he says, “knew what they were about when they kept the grand old hedges in 
order — the hedges that afforded shelter, keeping the fields and the stock ‘ in the 
loo.’ .... I have lived to see rows of fine old elms, which formerly 
shaded green lanes on either side, ruthlessly cut down for no earthly purpose.” 
Alas ! the disfigurement of the country, to which we referred last year at some 
length, t is proceeding apace. For no reason except, apparently, to give employ- 
ment to the men under the District Councils, hedges are being trimmed to a dead 
level ; the grassy borders of the roads are pared, the hedgebanks stripped ; the 
rural beauty of England is fast becoming a thing of the p.ast, and it seems likely 
that the paintings of those who pourtrayed it in happier days will soon be the 
only evidence of the loveliness of the land. 
As usual in his books, the “ Son of the Marshes ” gives us by the way curious 
items of folklore and local tradition. It is interesting to find him supporting a 
belief that formed the subject of a question in these p.ages not long since — the 
belief that young birds, when disturbed, are poi.soned by their parents. His 
reference to St. Guthlac leads us to hope that our author reads Naturk Notes. 
If this be so, and he should see this notice, we should be glad if he would inform 
* In the Green Leaf and the Sere. By A Son of the Marshes. Edited by 
J. A. Owen. Illustrated by D. C. Nicholl and G. C. llaite. Kegan Paul & Co.. 
8vo, pp. 288. Brice 7s. 6d. 
t Nature Notes, 1896, p. 141. 
