The Eye of the Wind by Peter Scott

THE EYE OF THE WIND is the autobiography of a great naturalist, sportsman, nature artist, and adventurer. Peter Scott's father, Captain Robert Falcon Scott, became a national hero when he died tragically in the Antarctic in 1912, leaving his young son a legacy of fame and honor.

Peter Scott grew up amongst distinguished people and memorable events. Once, at the age of four, he created consternation on the lawns of Buckingham Palace by insisting that Queen Alexandra play "trains" with him. The playwright James Barrie was his beloved godfather. Axel Munthe invited him to San Michele. Among the other famous men of the time who came to his family's house were Lord Asquith, George Bernard Shaw, HG Wells, and Lord Baden-Powell.

Peter Scott was at first a hunter. Later at Cambridge, as a zoology student, Scott could not work up much enthusiasm for dissecting voles, much preferring to study living animals. The discovery that he could actually sell his under-graduate paintings led him to the serious study of art. It is in fact as a painter of birds that he is best known in this country.