PREFACE 



the hunters, the foxes first, and then the weasels, 

 but without including all the weasels in the chapter 

 bearing that title: for the mink and otter I have 

 classed with the swimmers, along with the muskrat ; 

 while the skunk, which is also a member of the 

 weasel family, must wait, because of his habits of 

 lethargy, to be classed with the raccoon, woodchuck, 

 chipmunk, and the rest of the hibernators. For a 

 future day, also, I have reserved the wild-mice, — 

 the meadow-mouse, woodmouse, and jumping-mouse, as 

 well as the little foreign pilferers of our store-houses and 

 cupboards whose aspect probably terrorises a greater 

 number of the members of our own species each year 

 than all the bears and wild cats tvithin our borders. 



The bats, moles, and shrews must also wait their 

 turn, together with the hares ^ and, in fact, all of the 

 little warm-blooded furry things which are still to be 

 found within the litnits of a day's walk in this part 

 of the country, but for which I have found no space 

 in the present little book. 



Even as I now write, I have only to look up from 

 xiv 



