THE Surrey hills are so well known that an ordinary writer would find it hard to say anything fresh about them. The “Son of the Marshes,” however, has an exceptionally good power of observation, and even familiar facts he is able to present in a way that seems to give them new vitality. In all his books he is especially interesting in passages dealing with the habits of animals, and there are many such passages in the present volume. No secondhand information is offered; the author tells us only of things which he himself has had opportunities of noting. Most of the chapters have already appeared in Blackwood's Magazine, but many who read them there will be glad to possess them in their present form. The manuscripts of the “Son of the Marshes” have, as usual, been edited by Mr. J. A. Owen, who does not say precisely how much his editorial work includes.