MANDARIN DUCK 



PREFACE 



I DO not know which gives me the greatest pleasure of 

 two things, namely, the keeping of birds as pets, or 

 the representation of them in sketches. In attempting 

 to be author and artist in one, both these pleasures have been 

 mine ; for in writing about my birds I have kept them over 

 again, especially as far as those are concerned which are 

 but memories ; and in drawing them, I have been able to 

 understand them better, and to provide myself with some- 

 thing in the way of a lasting souvenir. And having done 

 so, a desire has come to me to invite others to share the 

 delights of this experience. 



Nowadays one is happy to believe that a growing 

 interest is spreading in England for the love and protection 

 of such a very beautiful portion of the Creator s work as 



