direct knowledge or understanding, which is my 

 own. And this, far from being visionary or hyper- 

 sensitive, as the makers of mechanical natural his- 

 tory would have us believe, is the only rational, 

 indeed the only possible, way of understanding any 

 animal action. 



So, whether one looks for the facts of animal life 

 or for the motives which govern it, the reader may 

 follow these trails, as I first followed them, with the 

 idea of seeing with his own eyes and understanding 

 with his own heart. He will see many things that 

 he does not understand, and so will listen with respect 

 to Noel and Old Tomah, who for fifty seasons and 

 more have lived close to the Wood Folk. And he 

 will find at the end of every trail a real animal, as 

 true to life as I am able to see and describe it after 

 many years of watching in the wilderness. 



xxi 



{Preface 



Stamford, Conn., 



January, 1905. 



/A 



