NOTE TO THE READER 



These Stories, selected from those published in 

 " Wild Animals I Have Known,'* are true his- 

 tories of the animals described, and are intended 

 to show how their lives are lived. 



Though the lower animals have no language 

 in the full sense as we understand it, they have 

 a system of sounds, signs, touches, tastes, and 

 smells that answers the purpose of language, and 

 I merely translate this, when necessary, iiito 

 English. 



ERNEST THOMPSON SETON 



4ft 



144 Fifih Avenue, New York fBr 



May 7, i8g^ 



