PREFACE 



THE series of volumes of which this is the first are 

 intended to supply information about the ways and 

 habits of the creatures of veld, forest, mountain, 

 and stream, so that school teachers, senior pupils, 

 and the general public may have a ready means of 

 learning to distinguish friend from foe in the 

 lower animal kingdom. 



Wherever civilised man penetrates he destroys 

 the native animals and birds indiscriminately. His 

 children are encouraged to sally forth with catapult, 

 air gun, and shot gun and wantonly destroy the lives 

 of innocent and often eminently useful creatures. 

 He even encourages them to make collections of 

 the eggs of wild birds, thereby diminishing the 

 numbers of insectivorous birds which are of immense 

 economic value to the country. 



When I think of my youthful days, I burn with 

 shame and remorse, for, in the light of knowledge 

 subsequently gained, I am conscious of having taken 

 the lives of numbers of animals and birds of great 

 economic value, and the lives of many others, 

 although of little or no value economically, yet 

 innocent of harm as far as man is concerned. 

 vii 



