PREFACE.

THE following pages are a faithful transcript of much personal observation; they are presented to the public with a sincere desire to interest the dwellers among rural scenes in the birds, the flowers, and other natural objects that surround them, and in the changes of the seasons.

For the derivation of the names of different plants and flowers, the author is indebted to the last edition of "An Arrangement of British Plants," by William Withering, Esq. LL.D. F.L.S.; for some remarks on the squirrel, to Cuvier's "Animal Kingdom;" and for a few passing observations,* to Paley and Durham: these acknowledgments, accompanied with a grateful sense of

* Vide page 8. 15. 37. 49. 112.