IV 



KEARTONS' NATURE PICTURES 



change of colour, no weakening of voice, 

 no lack of activity, or loss of beauty. 

 Therein lies one of their greatest charms : 

 they link you to your youth, revive your 

 hope, and renew your capacity for 

 healthy enjoyment. 



The present work has been prepared 

 at the request of friends who have ex- 

 pressed a wish for Kearton pictures from 

 Nature on a larger scale of reproduction, 

 and in order to give the man or woman, 

 boy or girl, who knows but little of the 

 country-side a bright and stimulating 

 glimpse of the wild creatures dwelling 

 therein. 



As a gentleman who recently took 

 the chair at one of my public lectures 

 very aptly put it : " The camera and 

 its devotees have altered the whole 

 attitude of the public towards the sub- 

 ject, and to-day there is a demand for 

 accurate pictures and first-hand obser- 

 vation." 



Throughout the pages of this work no 

 system will be followed ; birds, beasts, 

 reptiles, and insects will jostle together 

 as they jostle in Nature's own domain. 

 The reader may, therefore, dip into it 

 here, there, or anywhere, and find some- 

 thing to interest or admire, just as he 

 or she might do in a walk through the 

 woods, along the seashore, or across 

 some lonely moor. 



First and foremost this is a picture- 

 book, as its title implies ; but the text, 



although of secondary importance, will 

 be as accurate, informatory, and in- 

 teresting as care and experience can 

 make it. 



Familiar wild birds and beasts, seen 

 almost daily round some British home- 

 stead or other, will find a place side by 

 side with the very rarest feathered 

 friends that visit our islands to breed. 

 Bold Cock Robin will be figured together 

 with the rare and gentle Red-Necked 

 Phalarope, the cunning and wary Fox 

 sitting outside his " earth," and the wee, 

 timid Mouse at supper ; the Ptarmigan 

 in the grey solitudes of her mist- 

 wreathed mountain home, and the Par- 

 tridge in the hedge ; the noisy Oyster 

 Catcher by the restless sea, and the 

 Skylark in the peaceful meadow ; the 

 gay Green Lizard and the sober-coloured 

 Toad ; the Wood-Pigeon that coos softly 

 in the copse, and the Owl that screeches 

 weirdly in the woods by night ; the 

 Gannet sitting in stately grandeur on 

 the topmost ledge of a towering maritime 

 cliff, and the Ringed Plover that meekly 

 runs upon the shingle below : these, 

 and many others, will be figured and 

 described. 



In short, it is confidently believed that 

 the work will form the finest gallery of 

 sun pictures of wild birds and beasts, 

 taken amidst their natural surroundings, 

 ever published in this or any other 

 country. R> KEARTON> 



