Enter the secret lives of Britain's ordinary garden birds and the brilliant, unconventional woman who opened her doors to them.

In the late 1930s, Len Howard packed up her life in London, bought a plot of land in Sussex and built herself a little house there. This was to be Bird Cottage, a place where the doors of the house were open to the birds of the garden – great tits, blue tits, robins, blackbirds, willow warblers and many others. Len lived the rest of her life alongside her bird neighbours, with some sleeping in her bedroom and many flitting in and out all day long.

This is the book she wrote about the birds – a study not just of their behaviour but their individual personalities. We learn about their intelligence, emotional lives, and characters, their capacity for play and humour, the range of their song, their likes and dislikes, and their bond with Len.

Enchanting, life-enriching, revelatory and completely original, this is a gorgeous evocation of a life lived in intimate contact with nature and a book about birds unlike any other.

‘A unique, engaging and elegant insight into the lives of our precious and magical songbirds’ Arthur Parkinson

‘A quiet revelation of attentiveness and sympathy. It impressed and moved me very much’ Steven Lovatt, author of Birdsong in a Time of Silence

"Miss Howard's book of bird observation is the most remarkable I have ever read" - Spectator

"An unforgettable contribution to ornithological literature" - Sphere

"One of the bird books of all time; bird lovers take notice and do not miss" - Lilliput  

"This charming book is illustrated by excellent photographs taken by Eric Hosking" - News Chronicle

"Original and detailed... The book is full of original observations and is a valuable addition to bird behaviour" - Guardian