ANIMAL KINDERGARTEN 179 



young eagle. There seems no doubt that the latter is 

 taught to fly by its parents. A correspondent informs 

 the writer that he has watched the old birds so engaged, 

 and the young eagles reluctantly following them to a 

 height. Specialized education in animals begins late. 

 The beaver kitten's training does not begin until the 

 autumn of the year in which it is born. The old 

 beavers, which have moved up tributary streams into 

 the woods, or roamed to the larger lakes during summer, 

 then return to inspect their dam, and repair it for the 

 winter. They then cut down a few trees, and dividing 

 them into logs, roll them or tow them to the dam. 

 The kittens meantime are put on to what in a work- 

 shop would be called a ' soft job/ They cut all the 

 small branches and twigs into lengths, and do their 

 share of light transport service. In the mud-patting 

 and repairing of the dam the beaver kittens take their 

 share, but there is little doubt that they do so because 

 their elders are so engaged. It is a Kindergarten of the 

 best kind, because mud-patting and stick-cutting are a 

 great joy and solace to old beavers as well as young 

 ones, and so instruction, pleasure, and business are all 

 combined. Young otters, and probably also young 

 water-rats, have to be taught to go into the water. 

 According to the observations of Mr. Hart, the late 

 head-keeper at the Zoo, the young otters born there 

 did not enter the water for weeks, and even then their 



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