

PREFACE 



plant and bird-life a leading feature of the book, it 

 is because plants and birds are continually in evidence 

 and are naturally attractive to all. 



Explanatory Notes, and Exercises, are provided 

 where they are likely to be useful. In regard to 

 the Exercises, it is enough to say they are mere sug- 

 gestions ; their value will be found to lie partly in the 

 test they may afford of the pupil's memory and intelli- 

 gence, and partly in the scope they allow for the 

 development of his ingenuity and reason. It is not 

 necessary to follow the order of the lessons as given 

 in the book : it is often judicious to leave the choice 

 of lessons to the pupils. 



It is the Editor's hope that the book will take many 

 of its readers to * the open ', set them in the way of 

 observing and honouring Nature both when she is 

 shy and when she is magnificently bold, and foster in 

 them such a love for the country in all its aspects as 

 will continue with them throughout the vicissitudes 

 of life. The relationship, once established, will be to 

 their perpetual advantage. 



Nature never did betray 

 The heart that loved her; 'tis her privilege, 

 Through all the years of this our life to lead 

 From joy to joy. 



Her influence is in three directions : she can inform 

 the mind that is within us, impress it with quietness 

 and beauty, and feed it with lofty thoughts. Her 

 teaching is intellectual, aesthetic, and moral. 



J. L. R. 



EDINBURGH, 

 Jan. 1914. 



