Mr. Gosse complains that there are too many nature books,
" . . . most of them . . . merely a repetition of what has been written before." However true this may be, the complaint comes oddly from Mr. Gosse, whose Traveller's Rest (Cassell, 8s. 6d.) adds to their number a not particularly original col- lection of articles on various aspects of the country. He admits : " I make no pretence that this book of mire is not dependent very largely on books I have read. . . ." It is difficult to see why Mr. Gosse considers himself exempt from his own criticism—or perhaps he doesn't, but takes the sensible attitude that in spring publishers want all the nature-books they can get, and it is a writer's business to supply them. He discourses on a wide variety of topics : Sussex saints, fishing, bird-lore, nature- journalists, gamekeepers, bird - photo- graphers. He considers that the latter do almost as much harm as collectors and that bird-photography has outlived its usefulness as an aid to science, all the ground having been covered ! It is to Mr. Gosse's credit that, whether he is retelling an old story or discussing a modern problem, he is never dull.
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