INTRODUCTION. 



among the young, as it is a kind of Nature's " Birth-day Book," in which 

 the birth-days, so to speak, of flowers, butterflies, and birds, are recorded, 

 I and with which children may compare their own birth-days and those of 

 \ their friends. J For natural history classes in schools it will supply lists 

 of objects to be sought for on country walks and excursions on each day 

 of the year, and it will also furnish special and appropriate subjects for 

 teachers and lecturers to explain at the proper seasons. 



To make the study of natural history easy and pleasant to the young, 

 and to persons who do not wish to study it systematically, but who, never- 

 theless, may be trustworthy observers, the English names, and in many 

 instances the provincial names of plants, insects, birds, and animals are 

 given, as are also the natural habitats of plants, the situations in which 

 insects are usually found, the plants on which their larvae feed, and the' 

 most common position of the nests of birds.' The English names of 

 most of our wild plants are well established, and they are therefore included 

 with the generic names in the general index, while the English names 

 only of fishes, reptiles, birds, and animals, are given. Among entomolo- 

 gists, and especially among those who make a special study of butterflies 

 and moths, little attention is given to either the English or the generic 

 names, and the specific names are chiefly employed ; but in a work like 

 this it would be impossible to give an index of specific names of about 

 two thousand insects, and the generic names alone are included in the 

 general index, references, however, being given to the pages of the 

 " Entomologist " synonymic list of British Lepidoptera where the specific 

 names are to be found, as well as to. the pages of the Diary. 



Periodicity in Natural Phenomena. 



We are accustomed to divide the year into four seasons, spring, summer, 

 autumn, and winter, but in our temperate regions Nature divides it into 

 three, and she shows a disposition to contract the three to two as we 

 proceed towards the arctic regions on the one hand, and to the tropics 

 on the other. In the temperate and arctic regions these natural seasons 

 are chiefly the result of variations in the heat and light of the sun's rays, 

 while in the tropics moisture plays the principal part ; hence we have in 

 the former warm and cold seasons, and in the latter wet and dry seasons. 



The three seasons of organic objects are : (i) The season of growth, or 

 its correlative reproduction ; {2) The season of maturation {i.e. the ripen- 

 ing of fruits, seeds, and buds of vegetables, and the consolidation and 

 fattening of animals) ; and (3) The season of rest or equilibrium of the 



' For much of this information I am indebted to Hay ward's ' ' Botanist's Pocket- 

 boolt " (Bell and Sons) ; Miller's " Dictionary of English Names of Plants " (Murray) ; 

 Merrin's " Lepidopterist's Calendar" (Marsden, Gloucester) ; and Stephens's " List 

 of British Lepidoptera in the British Museum " (1850). 



