316 



has been entrusted to Professor Ramsay Wright, Professor of Biology at Toronto 

 University, whose name is a sufficient guarantee that what he has written upon 

 the subject is reliable. 



The illustrations which accompany the descriptions will be found useful and 

 may be depended upon as being strictly accurate. Many of them have been 

 taken from life, whilst the remainder have been photographed from mounted 

 specimens found in the Smithsonian Institute at Washington, D.C., and in other 

 well-known museums. 



The compilers of these papers lay no claim whatever, to originality, but have 

 copied freely from the best works obtainable, in order that the habits of the 

 animals referred to might be set forth correctly. Amongst the works copied 

 from are : 



Baird's North American Mammals. 

 Hallock's Sportsmen's Gazeteer. 

 Cassel's Natural History. 

 Wood's Natural History. 

 Wild Animals, by J. Fortune Nott. 



Whilst the valuable essays from the pen of Mr. W. P. Lett of Ottawa, have 

 also furnished much valuable information. 



The advice of many well-known trappers and hunters has also been obtained, 

 and it is hoped, therefore, that the papers may prove both interesting and 

 instructive. 



In giving the dimensions of the various animals described, an average has 

 been struck ; many specimens of the animals mentioned are larger in proportions 

 than the figures here indicate, while others are correspondingly smaller, but the 

 figures given will suffice for the purpose for which the papers are intended. 



