A Book of Natural History | Page 2

10 BY MARGARET WARNER MORLEY.
THE MAN-LIKE APES 15 BY PROFESSOR T.?H. HUXLEY.
SOME STRANGE NURSERIES 46 BY GRANT ALLEN.
HOW ANIMALS SPEND THE WINTER 69 BY W.?S. BLATCHLEY.
BIRDS' NESTS 88 BY JOHN BURROUGHS.
BIRDS IN THEIR RELATION TO AGRICULTURE 121 BY LAWRENCE BRUNER.
THE SCISSOR BEAK 143 BY CHARLES DARWIN.
THE CONDOR 146 BY CHARLES DARWIN.
THE UMBRELLA BIRD 153 BY SIR A.?R. WALLACE.
HUMMING BIRDS 155 BY THOMAS G. BELT, F.G.S.
THE FOUNDATIONS OF A WONDERFUL CITY 158 BY MAURICE MAETERLINCK.
WASPS 175 BY THOMAS G. BELT, F.G.S.
A WASP AND ITS PREY 180 BY G.?W. AND E.?G. PECKHAM.
LEAF-CUTTING ANTS 190 BY THOMAS G. BELT, F.G.S.
SOME WONDERFUL SPIDERS 197 BY CHARLES DARWIN.
WHAT I SAW IN AN ANT'S NEST 201 BY ANDREW WILSON.
THE WILD LLAMA 228 BY CHARLES DARWIN.
BATS 232 BY W.?S. DALLAS, F.G.S.
HOW SNAKES EAT 258 BY CATHERINE C. HOPLEY.
WHAT WORMS DO 264 BY CHARLES DARWIN.
TWO FOPS AMONG THE FISHES 284 BY W.?S. BLATCHLEY.
SEA SLUGS AND CUTTLE-FISH 292 BY CHARLES DARWIN.
THE COW FISH 295 BY SIR ALFRED RUSSELL WALLACE.
OLD RATTLER AND THE KING SNAKE 297 BY DAVID STARR JORDAN.
THE STORY OF A STRANGE LAND 303 BY DAVID STARR JORDAN.
THE COLOR OF ANIMALS 315 BY SIR JOHN LUBBOCK BART.
PROTECTIVE RESEMBLANCES IN SPIDERS 343 BY E.?G. PECKHAM.
THE BATH OF THE BIRDS 369 BY RICHARD JEFFERIES.
THE LOON 378 BY HENRY D. THOREAU.
THE DARTMOOR PONIES 384 BY ARABELLA R. BUCKLEY.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 396
SUGGESTIONS FOR SUPPLEMENTARY READING 398
NOTE.
The publishers' acknowledgments are due to Miss Margaret Warner Morley and Messrs. A.?C. McClurg & Co. for permission to use "Life Growth,--Frogs"; to Mr. W.?S. Blatchley and _The Popular Science Monthly_ for "How Animals Spend the Winter" and "Two Fops Among the Fishes"; to Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. for "Birds' Nests," by John Burroughs; to Mr. L. Bruner and the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union for "Birds in Their Relation to Agriculture"; to G.?W. and E.?G. Peckham for "A Wasp and Its Prey" and "Protective Resemblances in Spiders"; to President David Starr Jordan and _The Popular Science Monthly_ for "Old Rattler and the King Snake"; to President Jordan and A.?C. McClurg & Co. for "The Story of a Strange Land."

LIST OF COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE THE CONDOR Frontispiece THE GORILLA Face Page 40 THE YELLOW BELLIED WOODPECKER 92 THE UMBRELLA BIRD 154 THE GUANACO 230 THE VAMPIRE BAT 242 THE COW FISH 296
AND ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-TWO BLACK AND WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT.

ANIMALS, BIRDS, AND FISHES
BY
DAVID STARR JORDAN, LL.D.
This volume is made up from the writings of naturalists who have told us of the behavior of animals as they have seen it at first hand and of the beginnings and the growth of life so far as they know about it. In selecting these from the wealth of available material the editor has been guided by this rule: The subject matter must be interesting to young people; it must be told in a clear and attractive style; and most important of all, it must deal with actualities. We have seen in the last few years a marked revival of nature studies. This has led to a wider range of interest in natural phenomena and in the growth and ways of animals and plants. If this movement is not to be merely a passing fad, the element of truthfulness must be constantly insisted upon. If a clever imagination, or worse, sentimental symbolism, be substituted for the truth of nature, the value of such studies is altogether lost.
The essence of character-building lies in action. The chief value of nature study in character-building is that, like life itself, it deals with realities. One must in life make his own observations, frame his own inductions, and apply them in action as he goes along. The habit of finding out the best thing to do next and then doing it is the basis of character. Nature-study, if it be genuine, is essentially doing. To deal with truth is necessary, if we are to know truth when we see it in action. The rocks and shells, the frogs and lilies, always tell the absolute truth. Every leaf on the tree is an original document in botany. When a thousand are used or used up, the archives of Nature are just as full as ever. By the study of realities wisdom is built up. In the relations of objects he can touch and move, the child finds the limitations of his powers, the laws that govern phenomena, which his own actions must obey. So long as he deals with realities, these laws stand in their proper relation. "So simple, so natural, so true," says Agassiz. "This is the charm of dealing with nature herself. She brings us back to absolute truth so often as we wander."
So long as a child is led from one reality to another, never lost in words or abstractions,--so long this natural relation remains. "What can I do with it?" is the beginning