INTRODUCTION 



ever be made to reconcile itself to, or live 

 long in, any prison. For him the best result 

 I can hope for from the reading of my little 

 book would be the protection and kindness 

 we owe to every one of the harmless crea- 

 tures over which the order of Creation has 

 given us the authority and power of life and 

 death, with, as it seems to me, the duty of 

 protection. In the desire to mitigate the 

 suffering caused by the struggle for exist- 

 ence, I can only constitute myself the 

 advocate of those creatures which seem 

 to me to best repay it, as we do with our 

 fellow-men. The dog has his friends and 

 the cat hers — I give my heart amongst the 

 dumb beasts to the squirrel, and accept the 

 obloquy, if any, of the championship. Hav- 

 ing found the little being's heart, I confi- 

 dently make my simple appeal to all gentle 

 souls, that have found the companionship 

 of a bird or beast the solace of lonely hours, 

 to protect by all the means in their power 

 the frolicsome spirit of the woods. 



I am told that the squirrel destroys the 

 forest, and I know that in some forests 



