PEEEACE. 



The habits of animals will never be thoroughly known 

 till they are observed in detail. Nor is it sufficient to 

 mark them with attention now and then ; they must be 

 closely watched, their various actions carefully noted, 

 their behaviour under different circumstances, and espe- 

 cially those movements which seem to us mere vagaries, 

 undirected by any suggestible motive or cause, well ex- 

 amined. A rich fruit of result, often most curious and 

 unexpected, and often singularly illustrative of peculiarities 

 of structure, will, I am sure, reward any one who studies 

 living animals in this way. The most interesting parts, 

 by far, of published natural history, are those minute, but 

 most graphic particulars, which have been gathered by 

 an attentive watching of individual animals. Many ex- 

 amples crowd up to my mind.; — Wilson's picture of the 

 Mocking-bird; Vigors's of the Toucan; Broderip's of 

 his Beaver " Binny ;" WoUaston's of the Water-Shrew ; 

 Bennett's of the Bird of Paradise, and multitudes more. 



It is true that observations of this kind make us ac- 

 quainted rather with an individual than with a species ; 

 and long experience has convinced me that this is not a 

 distinction without a difference. There is an idiosyncrasy 

 in the inferior animals, I am persuaded, — not so great 

 or varied, probably, as in Man, since the more highly any 

 faculty is developed, the more susceptible it is of modifi- 



