28 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



prefer the full glare of noon-day or the black gloom of a 

 dark night. No animals can literally see in the absolute dark, 

 they need some light, but not much. Coons and Skunks are 

 night creatures, Squirrels are sun-seekers, but most others, 

 even Bats, are lovers of twilight. 



Among savage nations there is a prejudice against sleeping 

 in the moonlight. It is said to produce many kinds of trouble. 

 I have sought for sound reasons in this or for parallels among 

 the animals, so far without success. On the contrary, it would 

 seem that some species, as certain Deer and Bats, will regulate 

 their movements to take advantage of the light of the moon. 



sociA- Gregarious animals are not necessarily sociable. Bank 



swallows nest together, /. f., gregariously, but do not assist 

 each other in any important way — so are not sociable. Ante- 

 lope run in herds at a time, so are gregarious, but do not unite 

 their efforts for a common purpose, so are scarcely sociable. 

 On the other hand. Wolves do not den in colonies or continually 

 move in bands, yet they unite their powers to help each other 

 in tasks beyond the strength of one, so are eminently sociable. 

 Sociability reaches its highest pitch in certain rodents, 

 such as Voles, that have communal dwellings or villages under 

 a crude law of common interest, or the Beaver, with its wonder- 

 ful pond community — patriarchal rather than democratic. 



MEANS Communication must progress with sociability. Other 



MUNicA- things equal, we find animals profiting by each other's society; 



TION 



that is, truly sociable in proportion as they have advanced in 

 methods of communicating one with another, and vice versa. 



While voice, gesture, and touch are widely used, the most 

 surprising are the smell signals. These are highly developed 

 in the Antelope and several other species, but are of less interest 

 than the smelling-posts of Bears, dogs. Wolves, Foxes, etc. 

 These I have examined and treated at length. 



SENSES Evidence as to the powers of touch, taste, sight, hearing, 



smell, and direction have been sought for. 



