INTRODUCTORY NOTE 



that, to search for and discover even a few of these, will 

 bring its own reward to the diligent observer and seeker 

 after knowledge. 



Whilst so many real and so-called Nature Books 

 have been issued during the last decade — a testimony, 

 if such were needed, of the growing interest taken in 

 creatures of the wild — there is room, it is believed, for a 

 well-planned series of volumes such as " The Abbey 

 Nature Books," the first of which are confidently 

 offered to the Nature-loving public in the hope that the 

 efforts made to present the best possible, both pictorially 

 and textually, will meet with encouragement and support. 



Vll 



