A HERMIT'S WILD FRIENDS 



If they do, then the storing of a single nut 

 would be a miracle. Watch a red squirrel 

 while gathering acorns and note carefully 

 his intelligent acts. If there is a clear spot 

 beneath the oak he drops the acorns on to it, 

 even if he has to carry each nut from one 

 side to the other of the tree. Note how care- 

 fully he selects the fruit: no wormy nuts are 

 wanted. In fact, he exercises the same 

 thoughtful care that a human being would 

 exercise under like conditions. Does he do 

 the work blindly? 



Instinct, as applied to the lives of wild 

 animals, is such an elusive and meaningless 

 term, that it is a pity it should be used so 

 often by writers on natural history. The 

 word " instinct " savors of the supernatural, 

 and was invented in ancient times to separate 

 man from the brute, when the lower animals 

 were supposed to lack reason. The word 

 " heredity " is a far better word, for it ren- 

 ders intelligible all of fact that the word 

 " instinct " implies, without resort to imagina- 

 tion and the supernatural. 



