Two things must be done by the modern 

 nature writer who would first understand 

 the animal world and then share his dis- 

 cover y w i tn others. He must collect his 

 facts, at first hand if possible, and then 

 he must interpret the facts as they appeal 

 to his own head and heart in the light of 

 all the circumstances that surround them. 

 The child will be content with his animal 

 story, but the man will surely ask the why 

 and the how of every fact of animal life 

 that particularly appeals to him. For every 

 fact is also a revelation, and is chiefly inter- 

 esting, not for itself, but for the law or the 

 life which lies behind it and which it in 

 some way expresses. An apple falling to 

 the ground was a common enough fact, so 

 common that it had no interest until some 

 one thought about it and found the great 

 law that grips alike the falling apple and 

 the falling star. 



It is so in the animal world. The com- 

 mon facts of color, size, and habit were seen 

 for centuries, but had little meaning or inter- 

 est until some one thought about them and 



