NATURE IN EASTERN NORFOLK.
Nature in Eastern Norfolk. By Arthur H. Patterson. With 12 Illustrations in Colour by F. Southgate, A.B.A. (Methuen and Co. 6s.)—The county of Norfolk has always received atten- tion from naturalists. In the seventeenth century there was Sir Thomas Browne. In more recent times we need only mention the names of Paget, Stevenson, Lubbock, Gurney, and Southwell. At the present day every English zoologist knows the name of Mr. Arthur H. Patterson, of Ibis House, Yarmouth, as that of an ardent field naturalist who amid unenviable worldly circumstances has struggled hard to gratify a passion for his favourite pursuit. Mr. Patterson has followed up his "Notes of an East Coast Naturalist" by another work of the same kind. "Had they known my antecedents and the stern uphill struggle of my life," he writes in the present volume, "one or two of my reviewers would, I imagine, have been more merciful in their estimates of my work." Be this as it may, we do not think that Mr. Patterson's work needs any apologies on his part, though we have read the autobiographical chapter which he now publishes with interest. It is written with modesty and good taste, and may well encourage other young naturalists struggling in like poor positions. He was born in 1857 in one of the poorest " Rows " in Yarmouth. His father was a hard-working shoemaker, who buried eight other children while this one was yet small. His stepmother had little sympathy with a naturalist's propensi- ties, and made him learn the Psalms when he was eager to be exploring the fields and marshes. He tells us of his early pets and his books, while his time was divided between school and work in a chandlery shop. Then came four years as a pupil teacher, when the indoor life nearly killed him. He next became agent for an assurance company, bought a gun and a punt, and spent his spare hours on Breydon.
Thenhe was successively a POstman, a showman, manager of a small Zoological Gardens, a draper's warehouseman, and, finally, attendance officer to the School Board. All this while, too, he was writing, filling notebooks, collecting birds, fish, crustaceans, and struggling with poverty and a family. The volume now before us is the result of many years' acquaintance with the country round Yarmouth. Mr. Patterson has also drawn material from the published records of other Norfolk naturalists. Some general observations on the fauna are followed by catalogues of the birds, fishes, mammal% reptiles, amphibia, stalk-eyed crustaceans, and molluscs. - There are notes on the habits, appearance, or occur- rence of each species. Mr. Patterson writes well. His style is clear, simple, and unpretentious. He does not attempt fine writing, but when he describes the attitude of a bird or the aspect of Nature he has a faculty for selecting the appropriate word. A notice of this book would be very incomplete if it omitted to praise Mr. Southgate's illustrations of birds on preydon Water, which are so well reproduced that they have all Ihe charm and softness of the best water-colours. As may be supposed by any one who knows Yarmouth, Breydon plays an important part in Mr. Patterson's book. This tidal basin, five ;niles long and a mile broad, offers such attractions to migratory waders which arrive on the East Coast that more rare birds may be seen there in a year than in any other spot in England. Although drainage and walling have done much to spoil the natural charms of Breydon, it is still the resort of gunners and flshermen. There is a very pleasant account of the old " Brey- doners," who made a living by wild-fowling, fishing eels, mullet, or smelts, picking cockles or shrimping. Their leisure was spent gossiping at a waterside inn ; their days ended in the workhouse. Many of these Mr. Pattersoa knew individually and delighted in talking with, and he now tells anecdotes of them. A very salutary check upon indiscriminate shooting, which went on in spite of the Acts of Parliament, has been brought about by the Breydon Protection Committee, who employ a paid watcher. Spoonbills are regular visitors. Mr. Patterson has seen seventeen together. Some have remained all the summer, and it may be that they will again breed. Nine avocets visited Breydon in June, 1905. Mr. Patterson's book is so full of interesting records that it is a great misfortune to find the index so bad that it is almost useless.
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