10 PEINCE KEOPOXKIIJ^ ANNIVEESAET ADDRESS : 



ready to undertake the fliglit ; and then one morning disappearing, 

 all having left in one night. It has often been asked by naturalists 

 whether the larger birds do not help the smaller ones when 

 crossing the seas ; this is hardly probable, but it is certain that 

 some smaller birds have been seen within the emigrating columns 

 of much bigger birds. 



You may be inclined to say that the associations which exist 

 between animals are all utilitarian — are associations for protection 

 and for aiding migration — but there are plenty of associations 

 amongst all birds which are meant simply for the joys of life. 

 Every autumn hundreds of birds come together and spend their 

 lives in company. The species which will be commingled are very 

 different. It is really astonishing how different are the species 

 which meet together and how different are their habits. They 

 devote every day a couple of hours to getting food, and then they 

 enjoy their lives in sport and simply in " the joy of life." 



"With regard to the proportion between the numbers of the 

 carnivorous mammals and those which are living in societies, it will 

 be found that the former are very much less numerous than the 

 latter. Such animals as lions and tigers which produce upon 

 us the impression of conflict and antagonism are very small 

 in number, but everywhere the world teems with animals which 

 are gregarious. It even seems very probable that before the 

 intervention of man in the destruction of animals the carnivorous 

 animals were chiefly the scavengers of the animal world. "When 

 the Europeans took possession of America they saw large droves 

 of buffaloes traversing the country from north to south, so dense 

 that the buffalo-columns would keep the emigrant for two days 

 in the same spot, there being no possibility to pierce the column 

 and to pass through ; and more recently, when South Africa was 

 opened up by Europeans, there were found numberless herds 

 of gazelles and antelopes. Following these columns there are 

 always the carnivorous animals which prey upon the weaker 

 antelopes which fall behind the main herds. But even amongst 

 the carnivorous animals it will be found that continually they 

 unite for common hunt. The wolves, as we all know, organize 

 themselves into packs for hunting. In fact, it is only the feline 

 animals — those of the cat tribe — which live more or less an isolated 

 life. The canine animals, such as dogs, wolves, and foxes, 

 are all naturally social. 



The black bears of Kamschatka were once sociable, even with 

 man, but hunting by man has destroyed their sociability and 



