PREFACE 



THE following account of some of the commoner 

 birds and beasts around us is written in the 

 hope of interesting boys and girls, and some 

 of the older people too if possible, in the wild 

 life of garden, hedgerow, and field. Scientific 

 language has been avoided, for no facts lose 

 value from being expressed in plain words. 

 I have confined myself to the everyday crea- 

 tures that may be met with in garden and 

 meadow the mice, birds, frogs, toads, and other 

 animals that every person comes across as they 

 are quite as interesting as the more uncommon 

 ones. Indeed from a natural history and scien- 

 tific point of view there are probably as many, 

 if not more, valuable facts waiting to be dis- 

 covered concerning the ordinary creatures that 

 we meet with every day than there are concern- 

 ing animals out in the wilds. We want to know 

 how and why the creatures around us do the 



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