PREFATORY I^OTE 



TO THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION. 



It has been a privilege to make available to English readers 

 a book which shows a great naturalist at his best — a book that 

 presents the reader with a series of vivid pictures of wild life and 

 scenery, painted from actual observation, and with all the truth 

 and accuracy that belong to the artist and man of science combined. 

 It consists of a number of papers or articles that were originally 

 read as public lectures and were afterwards collected into a volume 

 that has met with much success in Germany. The subjects treated 

 range over a wide and varied field. Some of them are unfamiliar 

 to the ordinary reader, and besides their inherent interest have the 

 added charm of novelty; others, if more familiar, are here invested 

 with a freshness and charm that such a trained observer and prac- 

 tised writer as the author could alone impart. 



To the translation of the German original have been added an 

 introductory essay, showing Brehm's position among naturalist- 

 travellers, an extended table of contents, an appendix containing a 

 number of editorial notes, and an index. The number of pictorial 

 illustrations has also been increased. 



For a notice of the Author and his labours see the concluding 

 part of the Introductory Essay. 



M. R. T. 

 J. A. T, 



Univeesitt Hall, 



Edinbubgh, December, 1895. 



