xviii Introduction 



The first duty of the narrator of natural as well as civil his- 

 tory is to tell the truth, and to the naturalist belongs also the 

 privilege of showing that the lives of the higher animals, when 

 fully and clearly revealed, possess a more vital interest than the 

 puppet dressed in human clothes, however admirable the latter 

 may be as a work of art. 



I trust that the reader will not misunderstand these remarks. 

 What is criticised is the gross anthropomorphism which charac- 

 terizes much that is written upon the actions of animals. If I 

 am an offender in this direction, I hope it is only in a minor 

 degree. I am anxious to attribute to the animal every power 

 which it is actually known to possess, and look for the roots of 

 human instinct and intelligence all along the line of animal 

 evolution. "Go to the ant, thou sluggard!" is good advice, but 

 one should bring from the ant a trustworthy account of how it 

 performs its wonderful works. 



II 



Although this is not a treatise on Animal Behavior, a general 

 working theory has been adopted, and is given in the chapter 

 on Life and Instinct. If it were possible to add a select bibli- 

 ography on the instincts and intelligence of animals, the list 

 would include the names of more than a dozen modern writers, 

 whose works abound in fertile suggestions and ideas. To have 

 quoted from their experiments or technical essays would have 

 taken us far from the scope and purpose of the present volume, 

 and to a study of forms as far removed from Birds as the higher 

 Mammals on the one hand, and the Insects or the Protozoa on 

 the other. In such a list, however, would occur the names of Karl 

 Groos, Lloyd Morgan, Edward Thorndike, and Professors Whit- 

 man and Loeb, to mention those to whom I am most indebted, 

 and whether we accept their theories or not, they must com- 

 mand our respect, because they are based on the secure ground 

 of observation and experiment. 



All earnest students should ponder well the words of Karl 

 Groos, who maintains, in his admirable work on The Play of 



