P E E E A E. 



The object of this work is so fully given in the title-page, that 

 little more remains to be said in the preface. 



Beginning with the simplest and most natural form of habita- 

 tion, namely, a buiTow in the ground, the work proceeds in the 

 following order : — 2d, those creatures that suspend their homes 

 in the air ; 3d, those that are real builders, forming their domi- 

 ciles of mud, stones, sticks, and similar materials ; 4th, those 

 which make their habitations beneath the surface of the water, 

 whether salt or fresh ; 5th, those that live socially in com- 

 munities ; 6th, those which are parasitic upon animals or plants ; 

 7th, those which build on branches. The last chapter treats of 

 miscellanea, or those habitations which could not be well classed 

 in either of the preceding groups. 



In all these classes a definite order has been preserved, the 

 Mammalia having precedence, and being followed in regular 

 order by the other members of the group. Thus, in the first few 

 chapters, which treat of the Burrowers, the following system 

 has been obsei-ved: — First comes Man, the chief of all the 

 mammalia, and in due zoological order follow the Moles and 

 Shrews, the Foxes, the Weasels, the Eodents, and the Edentates. 

 The White Bear alone is removed from its legitimate place, on 

 account of its singular habitation in the snow. The Burrowing 

 Birds come next in order, those which burrow in the eaith 



