I have purposely avoided all temptations to discuss the minds and manners of domestic animals, partly because that is by itself a large subject, and partly because their minds have been so greatly influenced by long and close association with man. The domestic mammals and birds deserve independent treatment.
A great many stories of occurrences have been written into this volume, for the purpose of giving the reader all the facts in order that he may form his own opinions of the animal mentality displayed.
Most sincerely do I wish that the boys and girls of America, and of the whole world, may be induced to believe that the most interesting thing about a wild animal is its mind and its reasoning, and that a dead animal is only a poor decaying thing. If the feet of the young men would run more to seeing and studying the wild creatures and less to the killing of them, some of the world's valuable species might escape being swept away tomorrow, or the day after.
The author gratefully acknowledges his indebtedness to Munsey's Magazine, McClure's Magazine and the Sunday Magazine Syndicate for permission to copy herein various portions of his chapters from those publications.
W. T. H.
The Anchorage, Stamford, Conn. December 19, 1921.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Overpowering Curiosity of a Mountain Sheep
Christmas at the Primates' House
The Trap-Door Spider's Door and Burrow
Hanging Nest of the Baltimore Oriole Great
Hanging Nests of the Crested Cacique
"Rajah," the Actor Orang-Utan
Thumb-Print of an Orang-Utan
The Lever That Our Orang-Utan Invented
Portrait of a High-Caste Chimpanzee
The Gorilla With the Wonderful Mind
Tame Elephants Assisting in Tying a Wild Captive
Wild Bears Quickly Recognize
Protection Alaskan Brown Bear,
"Ivan," Begging for Food
The Mystery of Death
The Steady-Nerved and Courageous Mountain Goat
Fortress of an Arizona Pack-Rat
Wild Chipmunks Respond to Man's Protection
An Opossum Feigning Death
Migration of the Golden Plover. (Map)
Remarkable Village Nests of the Sociable Weaver Bird
Spotted Bower-Bird, at Work on Its Unfinished Bower Hawk-Proof
Nest of a Cactus Wren
A Peace Conference With an Arizona Rattlesnake
Work Elephant Dragging a Hewn Timber The Wrestling Bear,
"Christian," and His Partner
Adult Bears at Play
Primitive Penguins on the Antarctic Continent, Unafraid of Man
Richard W. Rock and His Buffalo Murderer
"Black Beauty" Murdering "Apache"