FACTORS IN ANIMAL LIFE 
its kittens have been known to imitate the mother. 
Darwin tells of a cat that used to put its paw into the 
mouth of a narrow milk-jug and then lick it off, and 
that its kittens soon learned the same trick. In all 
such cases, hasty observers say the mother taught its 
young. Certainly the young learned, but there was 
no effort to teach on the part of the parent. Uncon- 
scious imitation did it all. Our “Modern School of 
Nature Study” would say that the old sow teaches 
her pigs to root when they follow her afield, rooting 
in their little ways as she does. But would she not 
root if she had no pigs, and would not the pigs root if 
they had no mother? All acts necessary to an ani- 
mal’s life and to the continuance of the species are 
instinctive; the creature does not have to be taught 
them, nor are they acquired by imitation. The bird 
does not have to be taught to build its nest or to fly, 
nor the beaver to build its dam or its house, nor the 
otter or the seal to swim, nor the young of mammals 
to suckle, nor the spider to spin its web, nor the grub 
to weave its cocoon. Nature does not trust these 
things to chance; they are too vital. The things that 
an animal acquires by imitation are of secondary im- 
portance in its life. As soon asthe calf, or the lamb, 
or the colt can get upon its feet, its first impulse is to 
find the udder of its dam. It requires no instruction 
or experience to take this important step. 
How far the different species of song-birds acquire 
each their peculiar songs by imitation is a question 
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