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NA T URE-STUD Y RE VIE W 



[12:2— Feb., 1916 



mammalogist." This statement silenced the hunter who, giving 

 me a stare as though he considered me the most monumental 

 prevaricator he had ever come across, silently walked away. 



Now, what we please to call the moral of this story may be 

 viewed from several standpoints. In the first place, it must be 

 remembered that not one person in a good many thousand in this 

 country has any idea as to the number of animals represented in 



Fig. 9 — Red Squirrel 



any particular group — be it fish, birds, reptiles, or mammals; 

 again, unless one be so informed, it is not at all becoming, under 

 any circumstances, to boast about one's knowledge of such mat- 

 ters. Then, too, unless the young nature student intends to 

 become a professional zoologist, it is not necessary to be familiar 

 with the names and characters of all the forms in any group of 

 animals in the country in which he lives, much less of those of all 

 other countries. He or she is doing very well if acquainted with 

 all the creatures inhabiting the district in which one lives, or 



