ANIMALS 

 AT WORK AND PLAY 



ANIMALS' BEDS 



BIRDS which make such elaborate nests for their 

 young, seldom seem to think of making beds for 

 themselves to sleep in on winter nights.* This con- 

 tradiction is the more surprising because many animals 

 do make, or own, or appropriate beds. Some, like the 

 prairie-dogs, make a fresh one every night ; and almost 

 all that possess a bed at all, are vastly fussy, important, 

 jealous, and particular about this their only article of 

 household furniture. 



Prairie-dogs ought to take the place of the 

 stupid guinea-pigs as pets, if only because they throw 

 away their old bed every day, and make a new 

 one. The sight of the prairie-dogs making up their 

 beds on winter afternoons is the funniest scene in 



* Wrens are an exception to the rule. They habitually sleep, during the 

 winter, in the unlined * spare ' nests built in spring. 



