i6 



The Study of Animal Life 



fleet stag ; the dolphin gamboHng in the waves ; the lithe 

 lizards which flash across the path and are gone, and the 

 snake flowing like a silver river ; the buoyant swimming of 

 fishes and all manner of aquatic animals; the lobster darting 

 backwards with a powerful tail-stroke across the pool ; the 

 butterflies flitting like sunbeams among the flowers. But 



(From Bell.) 



are not all the delights nf form and colour and movement 

 expressed in the songs of the birds in spring ? 



I am quite willing to allow that this beauty is in one 

 sense a relative quality, varying with the surroundings 

 and education, and even ancestral history, of those who 

 appreciate it. A flower which seems beautiful to a bee 

 may be unattractive to a bird, a bird may choose her mate 

 for cjualities l.iy no means winsome to human eyes, and a 



