INTRODUCTION 



THIS book is a contribution to the 

 natural history of Scotland. It tells 

 of days among the wild creatures ; 

 days selected from many days, be- 

 cause more crowded with incident, against a 

 picturesque background. It starts from the 

 earth of a lowland fox, and ends by a lonely 

 mountain tarn. It ranges from the border to 

 Shetland, from burn to river, from shaded lane 

 to fenceless moor and bare mountain top. Trout 

 and salmon, singing-bird to eagle, field mouse to 

 deer all find a place. The current ripples ; the 

 rings break out on the pools ; in the twilight the 

 voles come forth from their tunnels. The rod 

 flashes its silvered line ; the bay of the hound, the 

 crack of the gun echo through the pages. It is 

 confined to the north. Scotland is, perhaps, the 

 only part of the British Isles where the term wild 

 life has much meaning. 



The object is to open the general eye to the 

 charm, to waken an interest in the general mind. 

 Nothing is so fatal as indifference. Rare forms 

 have passed out of existence, others are passing. 



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