A detailed study of birding in 19th century Russia. Written in a style that invites comparison to the works of Gilbert White and Thomas Coward, Aksakov's volume combines a naturalist's sensibility with literary skill. Notes of a Provincial Wildfowler is filled with precise descriptions of the various game that it treats: detailed accounts of the behaviour of birds, observations on their life cycles, and lyrical discourses on the habitats of marsh, water, and forest that comprise the Russian steppe.