HOW ANIMALS PLAY 233 





YOUNG COYOTE 



It would be a difficult matter to determine just 



WHAT ANIMALS DO NOT PLAY 



for youth and play seem to go hand in hand. It 

 must not, however, be understood from this broad 

 statement that the writer looks upon the oyster, for 

 instance, as a frolicsome, fun-loving creature. 



But even this lowly bivalve is a more highly 

 organized animal than might be supposed by any 

 one whose only knowledge of the oyster is its ap- 

 pearance on the half-shell, or its flavor as it goes 

 sliding down his gullet. The oyster has a heart, a 

 liver, an intestine and a rudimentary brain. The 

 baby oyster swims free, and, for aught we know to 

 the contrary, may be a playful creature before it 

 attaches itself to some stationary object and settles 

 down to the stupid vegetable life of a true gentle- 

 man of leisure. 



