BY
ABEL CHAPMAN.
"At last we have a book on birds in their haunts by a writer who is thoroughly master of his subject—one who has plenty to say, and who also knows how to place his experiences vividly before the reader. The portions devoted to the Cheviots and the moorlands recall the scent of the heather, while the narrative of adventures by day and by night in a gunning punt along the 'slakes' off Holy Island is pervaded by the keen salt breezes from the North Sea. In addition to his powers of description, Mr. Chapman is possessed of considerable abilities as a draughtsman, and although, through modesty, the fact is not mentioned on the title-page, this work contains numerous illustrations from his own pen-and-ink sketches, some of them being really admirable for breadth and boldness of execution.... As regards the second part, which treats of wild-fowling with the stancheon-gun, we can only say that nothing like it has appeared since the publication of Colonel Hawker's classic work. The haunts and habits of wild-fowl by day and night have never before been so clearly pointed out in any work with which we are acquainted."—Athenæum.
"One of the pleasantest books conceivable ..., it illustrates the valuable results of many years' observation, sometimes in the way of jottings from note-books, sometimes in descriptive sketches that are the most stirring and animated of pictures. Mr. Chapman is a naturalist of Gilbert White's school in the keenness and accuracy of his perceptions. He sees things for himself and takes nothing upon trust. Every lover of a country life will delight in his vivid sketches.... The author's enthusiasm is something irresistible. Even the drawbacks of that 'waiting game,' wild-fowling appear as of no weight when estimating the glories of the sport as set forth in the admirable chapters on 'Wild-Fowl of the North-East Coast,' 'Midnight on the Oozes,' 'Wild-Fowl and the Weather,' and so forth. Mr. Chapman illustrates his book with pen-and-ink drawings, chiefly of wild-fowl, which are excellent for the most part, and excellently reproduced."—Saturday Review.
"The ardour for sport is tempered in the author's case by a steady habit of observation, backed by careful note-taking and reflection, and widened by experiences in other lands; and the result is such an accurate record of the habits and movements of living birds in a single district, and at all seasons of the year, as is hardly to be found in any other volume of the same modest size and pretensions.... When the Southern reader lays down this book he feels quite at home among the curlew, the golden plover, and the grouse on the moors; he feels that he has done the next best thing to a personal endeavour to get a sight of those long lines of wild-geese on the bleak Northumbrian coast."—Spectator.
"An invigorating out-of-doors air pervades this book, and a happy directness of description.... Although very comprehensively treating of bird-life, a considerable portion of the book—and that not the least interesting—is devoted to shooting (open and covert), but mainly punt shooting. In sporting experience, so far as concerns the north-east coast, Mr. Chapman stands in the front rank, and discourses of it with an authority beyond controversy or challenge."—Land and Water.
"Among the classics of local Natural History."—Scotsman.
"His pages bristle with curiously minute and interesting facts concerning 'our feathered friends.'"—Leeds Mercury.
"Reads with the freshness of romance."—Glasgow Herald.
"Every page is original, breezy, and fresh, and calculated to arouse the longings of the sportsman, naturalist, and artist."—Newcastle Courant.