BIRDS OF THE LONELY LAKE. By A. Windsor-Richards. Illustrated by D.J. Watkins-Pitchford A.R.C.A. F.R.S.A.

1961 1st edition. Square 8vo (169 x 215mm). Pp96. Scraperboard illustrations by D.J. Watkins-Pitchford. Blue cloth, spine titled in silver-gilt.

A fictional account, based on good, solid natural history, of the birds and other wildlife to be found in and around the English Lake District. Good scraperboard illustrations by Denys Watkins-Pitchford, BB". Here is an enthralling description of bird-life beside a lake during a typical year. The author... was in charge of a bird sanctuary on the shores of Lake Coniston where he had unrivalled opportunities to observe the wild life. Many of the birds were passing visitors, such as the nightingale who returned one stormy April night to her birthplace by the lake. How she found a mate and bravely defended her young against the attacks of the jays is vividly described. So are the adventures of a young heron who falls out of her nest before she can fly and is pursued by a badger. Just when the end is near she finds herself airborne, and after a long flight arrives at the lonely lake. She soon learns to catch fish, and the summer passes in contentment. When autumn is succeeded by a harsh and snow-bound winter, the heron, finding herself without refuge and near to starvation, makes a perilous journey to the sea to find food, but in the spring she comes back again to her old home by the lake. The dangers of life by the lake are well brought out, but this is only one part of the story. There are also the joys of living beside the lonely lake". Chapters include:- Like a leaf in the storm; The snipe and the merlin; The mallard and her brood; The marauding jays; The song in the storm; Down the racing river; The young heron of lonely lake; The heron and the fox; In time of snow and ice.