Preface. vii 



away. Generally the young go of their own accord as early 

 as possible, knowing no affection but only dependence, and 

 preferring liberty to authority ; but more than once I have 

 been touched by the sight of a little one begging piteously 

 to be fed or just to stay, while the mother drove him away 

 impatiently. Moreover, they all kill their weaklings, as a 

 rule, and the burdensome members of too large a family. 

 This is not poetry or idealization, but just plain animal 

 nature. 



As for the male animals, little can be said truthfully for 

 their devotion. Father fox and wolf, instead of caring for 

 their mates and their offspring, as we fondly imagine, live 

 apart by themselves in utter selfishness. They do nothing 

 whatever for the support or instruction of the young, and are 

 never suffered by the mothers to come into the den, lest they 

 destroy their own little ones. One need not go to the woods 

 to see this ; his own stable or kennel, his own dog or cat 

 will be likely to reveal the startling brutality at the first 

 good opportunity. 



An indiscriminate love for all animals, likewise, is not the 

 best sentiment to cultivate toward creation. Black snakes in 

 a land of birds, sharks in the bluefish rips, rabbits in 

 Australia, and weasels everywhere are out of place in the 

 present economy of nature. Big owls and hawks, represent- 

 ing a yearly destruction of thousands of good game birds and 

 of untold innocent songsters, may also be profitably studied 



