ANIMALS AS FELLOW-CREATURES. 337 



that the peacock is vain, the magpie greedy, the cat 

 lazy, the fox sly, the bull aggressive, the mouse 

 cowardly, and the parrot or the corncrake "fond" 

 (as the rustic saying is) "of the sound of its owa 

 voice," any more than they can deny that the dog is 

 faithful, the love-bird constant, and the lion brave. 

 Nobody who has ever had a pet of any sort could 

 be deceived by the stale trick of the old-fashioned 

 moralists, of attributing to man a monopoly of all 

 the vices J and a stable-boy would quickly detect the 

 false art of Swift's final satire^ on human naturci 

 which owes its form at least as much to the author's 

 want of candour concerning the vices of horses, as 

 to his want of appreciation regarding the virtues of 

 men. 



Those who are anxious to gtudy live animals rather 

 than dead ones, will find plenty of interest in the 

 works of the older naturalists, and in the pleasant 

 gossip of many keen observers of country life in the 

 present day. The following books and magazines 

 may be especially recommended. 



White's Natural History of Selboriie necessarily 

 stands first on the list, and is too well known to need 

 further reference. Among text-books, Thomson's 

 Outlines of Zoology, already named in the list given 

 on p. 323, must be recommended as the only one that 

 gives evidence of the author's love for living animals, 

 and perception of their merits from a humourist's point 



> " Gulliver's Toyage to the Country of the Hounhynhyms." 



z 



