THE SUMMIT OF THE YEARS 



of monkeys are egg-suckers. A monkey of one of 

 these species knows how to deal with the first egg 

 it comes across; a monkey not of such species makes 

 a mess of the first egg. These are examples of in- 

 stinct, automatic reactions, inherited habits. Birds 

 not of the fly-catching species will sometimes pur- 

 sue and try to capture a small moth or other insect; 

 but how awkward and futile their efforts when com- 

 pared with the quick, sure swoop and snap of the 

 born fly-catcher. A sparrow never could learn to 

 take a fly as the phcebe does, or a woodpecker to 

 take a fish as the kingfisher does. Each kind of 

 bird is a born specialist in its own line. 



The career of every species of animal is determined 

 for it when it is born, and before. The beaver does 

 not have to be taught to cut down trees and to build 

 a dam, nor the muskrat to build its house, nor the 

 woodchuck to dig its hole. They come into the world 

 with the tools and the impulses to do these several 

 things. " Habit," indeed! So is the ebb and flow of 

 tide a habit; so is the singing of the wind in the tree- 

 top a habit; so is sunrise and sunset a habit. But the 

 habit is as old as time and as new as the day. 



