PREFACE. 
ix 
abrupt^ the reader is at liberty to suppose the lapse of what 
interval he pleases between the former and latter subjects ; 
or the notice of any passing occurrence;, which has changed 
the current of conversation. Of course^ the subject is very 
far from being exhausted : the Author has confined his re- 
marks^ with very few exceptions^ to those phenomena which 
have passed under his personal observation : and every one 
acquainted with out-of-door natural history, knows that each 
recurring season presents to the admiring observer facts that 
were before hidden and unknown. 
A word respecting the character of the Work. The Author 
is fully aware how very limited is his acquaintance with this 
boundless science ; having lived in the far-off wilds of the 
west^ where systems^ books^, and museums are almost un- 
known, he has been compelled to draw water from Nature's 
own well, and his knowledge of her is almost confined to 
her appearance in the forest and the field. With the sys- 
tems, which men of enlarged minds have, with patient 
perseverance and studious research, arranged, — the most 
laborious, but not the least useful part of the science^, — 
he has had little opportunity of making himself familiar. 
It may be asked, why, then, under these disadvantages, 
has he written at all ? " Not to instruct the learned, at 
whose feet he is willing to sit as a learner ; but partly 
to set forth the praise of the great and glorious God, who 
