iv PREFACE 
Each volume of the present Series will, 
therefore, be devoted to a bird or beast, and 
will be divided into three parts. The Natural 
History of the variety will first be given; it 
will then be considered from the point of view 
of sport; and the writer of the third division 
will assume that the creature has been carried 
to the larder, and will proceed to discuss it gas- 
tronomically. The origin of the animals will 
be traced, their birth and breeding described, 
every known method of circumventing and 
killing them—not omitting the methods em- 
ployed by the poacher—will be explained with 
special regard to modern developments, and 
they will only be left when on the table in 
the most appetising forms which the delicate 
science of cookery has discovered. 
It is intended to make the illustrations a 
prominent feature in the Series. The pictures 
in the present volume are after drawings by 
Mr. A. J. Stuart-Wortley, Mr. A. Thorburn, 
and Mr. C. Whymper ; all of which, including 
the diagrams, have been arranged under the 
supervision of the first-named. 
ALFRED E. T. WATSON. 
