BIRDS ASHORE AND AFORESHORE. By Patrick R. Chalmers.

1935 1st edition. Folio (255 x 315mm). Pp180. 16 colour and b/w plates by Winifred Austen. Blue cloth, spine and upper board titled in gilt, gilt falcon vignette on upper board.

Patrick Chalmers' delightful essays on birds - bearded tit, lapwing, wild swan, yellowhammer, heron, kingfisher, coot, barn owl, cormorant, snipe, hooded crow, curlew, woodcock, oystercatcher, bittern and wild duck. Illustrated with beautiful plates from watercolours by Winifred Austen. Good natural history with a little sport, a few of Chalmers' poems, and quite a few recipes. Chalmers frequently quotes earlier authorities on the subject, including many references to "The Birds of Angus and the Mearns" by Alexander Moniepennie, a fictitious work which no doubt entertained the author and mystified many of his readers". And Mr. Moniepennie (once more Mr. Moniepennie!) says: 'An omelit (sic) made of the White Owl's eggs is believed in the Mearns to be a remedy for drunkenness.' "