

PREFACE 



The favourable reception with which the ' Out-door World ' 

 has been greeted has encouraged the publishers to issue 

 a series of volumes dealing in fuller detail Avith the various 

 branches of Natural History treated of in that work. 

 Necessarily each subject was only briefly touched upon, but 

 the study is of so enticing a character that ' appetite grows 

 by feeding,' and the students of the ' Out-door World,' 

 having tasted the sweetness of companionship with Nature, 

 will not rest satisfied with the help afforded by that handbook. 

 Each one will want to go deeper into that particular depart- 

 ment which most appeals to his own inclinations. 



The present volume is written expressly for those who 

 desire to extend their knowledge of the British Lepidoptera, 

 or, to use the more popular names, ' Butterflies and Moths.' 



The general characteristics of this interesting order of 

 insects are described somewhat fully, but, of course, it would 

 be impossible to give an individual account of all the British 

 Lepidoptera in a work of this size, so a selection has been 

 made such as will satisfy the requirements of the great ma- 

 jority of those who intend to take up tliis particular branch 



