VII 



TO know birds and beasts may be a greater 

 or a lesser triumph than to know ornithology 

 or zoology. That is a question of taste or tem- 

 perament, the only certainty being that the two 

 classes of subjects are altogether different. The 

 latter deals with external matters, with form, clas- 

 sification, generalities. Its materials are books, 

 specimens, museums, one as dead or desiccate as 

 another; and because it is limited and exact, you 

 can memorize its outlines in a few days, or become 

 in a few years an authority in the science. 



The former subject, of birds and beasts, deals 

 with an endless and fascinating mystery. Its ma- 

 terials are living and joyous individuals, among 



[i75l 



