CHAPTER II 



MAMMALS 



Life of mammals. Protective value of colour. Origin of colour. 

 Hibernation. Store-rooms. Increased production or diminished 

 peril of destruction. Why mammals do not multiply more. 

 The play of animals. Explanation of play by rest and the 

 accumulation of energy. Human play. Imitation in play. 

 Explanation ot instinct. Instinct and intelligence. Exercise of 

 the mind in the games of children. Pleasure in play. Conscious 

 self-deception, imagination. Play and art. The animal is at the 

 threshold of art. Sense of freedom in play. Games of children. 

 Attention. The use of curiosity. The mind of the animal and 

 of man. 



Every friend of Nature, everyone who is acquainted 



with the life of the forest and the field, knows that 



there are not too many mammals that now meet the 



eye of the traveller. 



Many a time during a walk through the wood do we 



see something hopping about here and there, and find 



on drawing nearer that a squirrel is hurrying with 



nimble springs to the nearest tree, and climbing up it 



on the side furthest away from us. Now and again we 



discover a hedgehog in his leafy hiding-place, or stand 



by a pond to watch the antics of the water-shrew or 



the water-rat. If fortune favours us, and we keep quite 



still, we may see the field-mouse hurrying over the 



stubble 



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