INTRODUCTORY NOTE 



a bold and up-to-date plea for due recognition of what it 

 rightly called " National Nature-Study," and in the 

 course of a most able contribution concluded as follows : 



" It is no good teaching a lad the anatomy of a Frog 

 by blackboard and text-book unless, and until, his 

 curiosity has been aroused by observation of the Frog 

 itself. He will forget it as soon as he enters the play- 

 ground, or when his whole energies are set upon earning 

 a living for himself. But teach him to read, mark, learn, 

 and inwardly digest the book of Nature at first hand, and, 

 even though he forget the substance of his lesson, he 

 will have acquired acumen which, in whatever walk of 

 life he selects, will be to him and to the State an asset of 

 inestimable worth. The boy scout of Nature is the 

 successful soldier, citizen, merchant, and adventurer of 

 the future. His success must be achieved not by the 

 destruction of Nature and Nature's sanctuaries. Let 

 it be borne in upon him that Nature's sanctuaries and all 

 that they contain and retain are to be cherished and 

 presei^ved as part of his own goodly heritage as heir of 

 all the ages." 



It may here be remarked that, bearing in mind what is 



written above, the object of this new series of Nature 



Books is not so much to " teach," as to direct arid impart 



useful and interesting information, with the idea that, 



aided by simple illustrations, the reader, be he young or 



old, boy or girl, will be so smitten with the desire to 



learn as to carry out observations of their own accord. 



So many links in the great chain of life are missing 

 vi 



