Michael Allen is the Chairman of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts. He is a retired lecturer of English Literature at Cambridge University and has a life-long passion for literature and ornithology. Sonya Patel Ellis is an experienced freelance writer on the environment, wildlife and travel.

This wonderful collection of some of the greatest nature writers in Britain's history is a pleasure to read from start to finish." Sir David Attenborough

• Foreword vii Introduction ix 1. In the garden From Bonsai to Blue Tits, by Chris Baines 3 My Island in Suffolk, by Elizabeth Jane Howard 7 On the Anger of Hornets, by Richard Mabey 11 Hoverfly, by Simon Barnes 15 The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Actions of Worms, 19 by Charles Darwin 2. On the wing Islay, by Paul Evans 27 Swifts at Nest, by David Lack 33 Rooks, by Charles Waterton 35 From The Natural History of Selborne, by Gilbert White 37 Ravens, by Henry Eliot Howard 43 Trunk Calls, by Dominic Couzens 45 A Natural Amphitheatre, by Edmund Selous 49 The Call of the Wild, by Mark Cocker 53 The Gamekeeper at Home, by Richard Jefferies 57 Cuckoo, by Miriam Rothschild 57 The Peregrine, by J. A. Baker 63 From The Natural History of Wiltshire, by John Aubrey 71 The Redstart, by John Buxton 75 Tawny Owl, by Edward A. Armstrong 77 Grey of Fallodon, by Edward Grey 79 From The Running Sky, by Tim Dee 81 Gold-crested Wren, by George Montagu 87 Adventures among Birds, by William Henry Hudson 91 3. By river and sea Bass Rock, by Eric Ennion 97 Fish-watching, by Colin J.Martin 99 The Ring of Bright Water, by Gavin Maxwell 103 Dolphins, by Gavin Maxwel 105 The Living Mountain, by Nan Shepherd 109 The Stream, by Henry Williamson 117 The Old Trout, by Henry Williamson 119 The Braan Salmon, by Kathleen Jamie 125 The Island, by Ronald Lockley 129 To the River, by Steve Backshall 133 An Appointment with Mrs Maximus, by Nick Baker 139 4. Past the hedgerows The Hayfields of Stoneborough, by Francis Kilvert 149 An Encounter with Rural Worcestershire, by Chris Beardshaw 151 Sudden Snow, by Edward Thomas 153 Summer, by Edward Thomas 155 Early Spring, by Gerard Manley Hopkins 159 The Magic of Horses, by Jules Pretty 165 Welsh Farm, by Sir Alfred Russel Wallace 171 Bollitree and Horncastle, by William Cobbett 175 5. Under the trees Trees from My Window, by Colin Tudge 181 Leaves, by Roger Deakin 185 The Pine Wood, by Richard Jefferies 191 6. In the wild Very Close Encounters with British Wildlife, by Bill Oddie 199 Flight, by Nan Shepherd 209 The Autumn Stalk, by Sir John Lister-Kaye 215 7. From my window From Wild Hares and Hummingbirds, by Stephen Moss 223 From Natural History Letters, by John Clare 229 From The Turning Earth: Seven Days in September, by Ruth Padel 235 8. Nature trails Milkwort on the Gower Peninsula,Wales, by Andrew Lack 245 Likenesses, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge 251 The End of an Excursion, by Sir Joseph Banks 253 Gordale Scar, by Thomas Gray 257 The Mountain in Snow, by Frances Kilvert 259 The Lake Shore at Gowbarrow Park, by Dorothy Wordsworth 261 Life of the Stream, by Colin Elford 263 9. Words and nature The Gannet, by John Woolner 271 Endings, by Robert MacFarlane 277 Index 283 About The Wildlife Trusts 287 Acknowledgements 290