The purpose of the present volume is to exhibit a series of
well-authenticated anecdotes, calculated to illustrate the character
and habits of the more prominent species of the animal kingdom. The
plan of the work, of course, excludes full scientific descriptions; but
it has been thought that it may be more useful, as well as interesting,
to arrange the subjects according to the most approved system of
classification, and to indicate, briefly, the leading traits of the
several orders and genera.[1]
[1] For a more scientific account of the animal kingdom, the
reader is referred to "A Pictorial Natural History," &c.,
published by James Munroe & Co., Boston.