iv PREFACE. 



go no further than the Mammalia, while almost all 

 animals were to have been included. 



With regard to the remaining orders if the present 

 work should meet with a favourable reception, I shall 

 hope next year to present the public with touching 

 and amusing proofs of the sagacity and dispositions 

 of birds, and of 'hair-breadth 'scapes' from reptiles, 

 etc., some of which will, like those in the present 

 volume, be carefully selected from the works of tra- 

 vellers, from the resources of friends, and from my own 

 experience. 



To the pleasing task of enlightening those who, shut 

 up in close cities, have no opportunity of observing for 

 themselves, and to the still higher enjoyment of direct- 

 ing young minds to an elevating pursuit, the naturalist 

 adds a gratification even better than all, by making 

 known the hidden wonders of nature ; and leaving to 

 those who delight in argument, the ever-unsolved ques- 

 tion of where instinct ends and reason begins, he sets 

 forth the love of the great Creator towards all His 

 creatures, and the ways He takes to show His wisdom. 



