PREFACE. 
The little work here presented to the reader 
IS designed to promote among the young a 
taste for Natural History, which has been so 
eminently encouraged by the formation of that 
magnificent collection of animals which occu- 
pies the gardens of the Zoological Society. 
There, and in a later establishment of the 
same nature, the inhabitants of the British 
metropolis possess facilities, never before offer- 
ed in this country, for studying from living 
specimens the conformation, habits, manners, 
and other peculiarities of many of the most 
stupendous and curious members of the Ani- 
mal Kingdom. 
