10 INTRODUCTION. 



There is undoubtedly an astounding dearth 

 of books dealing with the wild life of our woods 

 and hills which strike a happy medium that is, 

 books which are sufficiently informative without 

 being burdensome to all but the seriously minded 

 naturalist. For every man or woman who wishes 

 to delve deeply into technicalities, there are hun- 

 dreds who, while not desiring to imbibe solid chunks 

 of knowledge, are sufficiently fascinated by the sub- 

 ject to read with the keenest interest of the life- 

 habits and characters of the wild beasts they see. 

 The tendency is for human life to speed up, and 

 as the tension increases year by year, the need 

 for complete relaxation becomes more and more 

 marked, and tired brains turn more and more to 

 the fresh, calm things of the country. To-day 

 natural history books are more popular than ever 

 before, and it is with the realisation of this growing 

 popularity that I have endeavoured to produce a 

 book which, while being popular, is painstaking 

 and thorough so far as is within the scope of my 

 ability to make it. I hardly hope that it adds 

 very much to the sum of man's knowledge; but 

 if it adds one drop to his cup of contentment, 

 my purpose is achieved. 



KILLIN, PERTHSHIRE. 



