I have preferred rather to make a selection from the
great multitude, and to present such facts and anecdotes respecting
those selected as shall, while they interest and entertain the young
reader, tend to make him familiar with this branch of useful knowledge.
I ought, in justice to myself, to explain the reason why I have
restricted my anecdotes almost exclusively to animals belonging to the
race of quadrupeds. It is seldom wise, in my judgment, for an author to
define, very minutely, any plan he may have, to be developed in future
years--as so many circumstances may thwart that plan altogether, or very
materially modify it. Yet I may say, in this connection, that the
general plan I had marked out for myself, when I set about the task of
collecting materials for these familiar anecdotes, is by no means
exhausted in this volume, and that, should my stories respecting
quadrupeds prove as acceptable to my young friends as I hope, it is my
intention eventually to pursue the same, or a similar course, in
relation to the other great divisions of the animal kingdom--Birds,
Reptiles, Insects, Fishes, etc.
The stories I tell I have picked up wherever I could find them--having
been generally content when I have judged a particular story to be, in
the first place, a good story, and in the second place, a reliable one.
I have not thought it either necessary or desirable, to give, in every
case, the source from which I have derived my facts.
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