INTRODUCTION xxvii 



ascribe to them intelligence and reasoning powers which they do 

 not possess, and in some instances to "observe" wonderful man- 

 ifestations that take place chiefly in the imagination of the beholder. 

 For example, to a woodcock, having mingled blood and mud on a 

 broken leg, is ascribed a deliberate and well-considered attempt at 

 "surgery," and the intentional making of a clay jacket, re-enforced 

 with pieces of grass. To my mind, all such "observations" as the 

 above are too absurd for serious Consideration; and when put forth 

 for the information of the young, they are harmful. 



There exists to-day a tendency to ascribe to wild animals a full 

 measure of human intelligence. But wild creatures must not be 

 taken too seriously. With all their "schools" in the woods, they 

 are not yet as intelligent as human beings; and the strain that is 

 being put upon them by some of their exponents is much too great. 

 With the most honest intentions, a naturalist may so completely 

 overestimate and misinterpret the actions of animals as to reach 

 very ridiculous conclusions. 



Judging from all that I have seen and heard of wild creatures 

 of many kinds, from apes to centipedes, both in captivity and out, 

 I believe that practically all their actions are based upon natural, 

 inborn instinct — nearly all of it in the line of self-preservation, and 

 the exceptions are due to the natural tendency to imitate leaders. 

 Of hereditary knowledge — another name for instinct, some animals 

 have an abundance. Of special knowledge, acquired by systematic 

 reasoning from premise to conclusion, most animals have very 

 little, and very few ever exhibit powers of ratiocination. 



It is not true that young animals know things only as their 

 parents teach them. The assertion that all young birds must be 

 "taught" to fly, or run, or swim, or catch insects, is ridiculous, 

 and not even worthy of discussion. It is just as natural for a one- 

 week-old lion cub to spit, and claw at a human hand, as it is for it 

 to breathe and suck. There are no deer in a captive herd so in- 

 sanely wild and fearful of keepers as the fawns. 



