PREFACE. 



had put the final touches to the proofs. He is known to many- 

 readers by his vigorous illustrations of the works of Sir Samuel 

 Baker, Livingstone, and many other travellers, — but these, his 

 last series of plates, were, at my special request, executed with 

 a care, delicacy, and artistic finish, which his other designs 

 seldom exhibit. It must, however, be remembered, that the 

 figures of animals here given are not intended to show specific 

 or generic characters for the information of the scientific zoolo- 

 gist, but merely to give as accurate an idea as possible, of some 

 of the more remarkable and more restricted types of beast and 

 bird, amid the characteristic scenery of their native country ; — 

 and in carrying out this object there are probably few artists 

 who would have succeeded better than Mr. Zwecker has 

 done. 



The general arrangement of the separate parts of which the 

 work is composed, has been, to some extent, determined by 

 the illustrations and maps, which all more immediately belong 

 to Part III. It was at first intended to place this part last, but 

 as this arrangement would have brought all the illustrations 

 into the second volume, its place was changed, — perhaps in 

 other respects for the better, as it naturally follows Part II. 

 Yet for persons not well acquainted with zoology, it will per- 

 haps be advisable to read the more important articles of Part 

 IV. (and especially the observations at the end of each order) 

 after Part II., thus making Part III. the conclusion of the 

 work. 



Part IV. is, in fact, a book of reference, in which the distri- 

 bution of all the families and most of the genera of the higher 

 animals, is given in systematic order. Part III. is treated 

 somewhat more popularly; and, although it is necessarily 

 crowded with scientific names (without which the inferences 



