CONTENTS. 
CHAPTER I. 
SOCIAL MAMMALIA. 
PAGE 
The BEAVER—Its form and aquatic habits—Need for water and 
means used to procure it—Quadrupedal engineering—The 
dam of the Beaver—Erroneous ideas of the dam—How the 
Beaver cuts timber—The Beaver in the Zoological Gardens 
—Theories respecting the Beaver’s dam—How the timber is 
fastened together—Form of the dam, and mode of its enlarge- 
ment—Beaver-dams and coral reefs—The house or lodge of 
the Beaver—Its locality and structure—Use of a subterranean 
passage—How Beavers are hunted—Curious superstition— 
“Les Paresseux ” : : : ; . Ir 
CHAPTER ILI. 
SOCIAL BIRDS. 
The SocIABLE WEAVER BirD and its country—Description of 
the bird—Nest of the Sociable Weaver—How begun and how 
carried on—Materials of the nest—The tree on which the nest 
is built, and its uses—Dimensions of the nest and disastrous 
consequences—A Hottentot and a lion—Supposed object of 
the social nest—Average number of inhabitants—Analogy 
with Dyak houses—Enemies of the Sociable Weaver: the 
monkey, the snake, and the parrakeet . r ‘ é . 18 
