LITTLE BEASTS OF FIELD AND WOOD 



any of them, are notoriously fond of sunning 

 themselves on every occasion. 



And this I believe to be a pretty fair example 

 of the pleasure they find in existence, life for them 

 being evidently divided into but two stages, youth 

 and extreme old age, without the intermediate 

 period of work and responsibility and worry, 

 which we of the present day are taught to look 

 upon as the most important part of human life. 



For though there are plenty of hard workers 

 among the rodents, at least, it seems to be work 

 of a wholly irresponsible nature, done for the fun 

 of the thing, as children build forts in the sand. 

 And like children, too, they are certainly fond of 

 pretending. With dead leaves and sticks for play- 

 things some furry little chap will spend hours all 

 alone under the shadows of the leaves, perfectly 

 happy, and, to all outward appearances, just as 

 deeply interested and as much in earnest as when 

 engaged in gathering stores of food for the ensu- 

 ing winter. 



