PUBLISHERS' NOTE. 



The Publishers are permitted through the kind- 

 ness of Mr. Kingdon Ward to add as an Appendix 

 to this book some account of Wild Life seen during- 

 the adventurous journey taken by himself and com- 

 panions in 1910 through unbeaten tracks in some of 

 the western districts of China. These papers, which 

 appeared in "The National Review" from time to 

 time, will be found full of the original observation 

 of a man who sees and describes things and places 

 rarely if ever seen bv Avhite men before. 



As the order of the chapters on Bird Life was 

 largely determined by the occurrences observed in 

 the avian world from week to week these chapters 

 constitute a rough guide to the doings of the birds 

 during the \-ear, and therefore the dates on which 

 they appeared are inserted in the Table of Contents. 



