I have had these two things the new 

 facts and the interpretation thereof in mind 

 in putting together the following sketches 

 from my note-books and wilderness records. 

 The facts have been carefully selected from 

 many years' observations, with a view of em- 

 phasizing some of the unusual or unknown 

 things of the animal world. Indeed, in all 

 my work, or rather play, out of doors I have 

 tried to discover the unusual things, the 

 things that mark an animal's individuality, 

 leaving the work of general habits and 

 specific classification to other naturalists who 

 know more and can do it better. Therefore 

 have I passed over a hundred animals or 

 birds to watch one, and have recorded only 

 the rare observations, such as are seldom 

 seen, and then only by men who spend long 

 days and seasons in the woods in silent 

 watchfulness. 



Whether these rare habits are common 

 property among the species, and seem 

 strange to us only because we know so 

 very little of the hidden life of wild ani- 

 mals, or whether they are the discovery of 



