THE LIFE OF MAMMALS 
of weeding out the worst and discovering and saving the best to become 
sires of a race which shall inherit, with each new generation, the qualities 
of the best of its kind. To this custom of courtship by battle is attributed, 
also, the growth of the protective mane which no doubt saves many a life 
in these combats, wherein nature must not permit ¢eo high a death rate. 
Any such inequality of numbers between the sexes as certainly exists, would 
naturally result in the polygamy alluded to, some lions, it has been stated, 
having as many as five wives. Much remains to be learned, however, in 
this direction; and it will probably be found, if it be possible to discover 
the truth at this late day, that polygamy is rather exceptional. 
Leo’s family home is in some dense thorn thicket, reed 
bed, or cavern, where in the spring from two to six whelps are 
born — usually four. He is reputed to be good to his family, 
bringing his mate food while she is kept at home in nursing 
her newly arrived babies, and defending his household from 
danger. Pleasant stories are related also of the mother’s care 
for her mottled cubs; and when they get large enough to go 
abroad with her she guides and controls them. Thus she has 
been seen to compel them to stay back and keep quiet when she 
sights prey and wishes to stalk it; and so they see how the work 
is done. More often than in the case of other cats, apparently, 
the father lion leads the family hunt and strikes down the 
victim, his mate waiting near ready to lend a hand. Here, 
in the old books, would follow tales of ‘‘magnanimity,’”’ with 
moral reflections whose only defect lay in having no founda- 
tion in fact. Instead of standing back and politely allowing 
his “beloved” family to satisfy their hunger (and inciden- 
tally consume the tidbits) before him, an old lion will far more 
likely, as in the lionine family meal watched by Drummond," 
crossly keep them away until he has eaten all he wants. Only 
then may the others approach to get what they can, leaving 
the bones to be cracked by hyenas and scraped by jackals — 
both of which are liable to be pounced on and devoured them- 
selves. None sits at the first table in a lion’s house unless he 
is as strong as the host. 
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