406 THE ANIMALS AND MAN 



and protection, and many of them, particularly the insects 

 and birds, have just as unusual and just as wonderful and 

 interesting devices as any mentioned in the preceding para- 

 graphs. Let each pupil observe carefully and thoughtfully 

 the animals familiar and accessible to him, remembering 

 that smallness does not at all mean lack of wonderful and 

 interesting structures and habits. Let each make a list 

 from personal observation of the special devices and habits 

 for getting food and for protection possessed by the animals 

 he knows. 



The distribution of animals. We are used to seeing 

 certain kinds of animals, such as rabbits, robins, field-mice, 

 and garter-snakes in the particular region in which we live, 

 and never seeing others, such as lions, elephants, birds-of- 

 paradise, and boa-constrictors. We know, indeed, that 

 these latter kinds do not live in our region nor even on our 

 continent. But we are too likely to take such things for 

 granted, and not inquire why it is that only certain particular 

 kinds live in North America and certain others in Africa, 

 while others still may be found all over the world. 



As a matter of fact there are few things about animals 

 more interesting to observe than their distribution over 

 the world. Unfortunately in this matter we must depend 

 for many of our facts upon the statements of other people; 

 we can observe at first hand only a few of them. We can 

 see for ourselves what kinds of animals live in our neighbor- 

 hood, and that certain other kinds with which we are some- 

 what familiar from menageries or books do not. We can 

 see that some animals, fishes for example, live always in 

 water; and that some water animals live always in ponds, 

 while others prefer the brooks. Many other water animals, 

 on the contrary, can live only in the ocean, and of these 

 some always keep near the bottom, where it is dark and 

 cold, while many live on or near the surface. Again, some 

 of the surface forms keep always near the shore, while others 



