New-York tribune., 1902-12-16

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Many and often delightful have been the
nature hooks published during the last five
veare Some Of them have already drffted into
,hlfvion. Others are even now the way thither;
and it is still too early conclude that the exist
ing taste for nature study is more than tenn
porary fashion. However that may be, we nave
in MI Longs captivating book one which prom
ises to become a classic. We know Of no other
student of animal life who has shown for the
creatures of the forest such loving sympathy,
sucb intuttive appreciation of their characters,
customs and instincts He is the friend OF beast
and bird and his methods of observation are as
gentle as they are searching; he has, moreover
that spirit of patient reverence, that ardent in
rerest without which the scientific investigator
is a mere Dryasdust-
How do the wild things Of the woods learn to
live therein to seek and find their food. to avoid
their enemies and do their duty TO their kind?
Mr. Long does not attribute all their abilities to
instinct as former students have done His
long watches in the wilderness have convinced
him that the animals must learn most Of what
they know as we do, and that they are deiiber-
ately taught and trained by their elders In
stinct he tells u.s. is of little avail to the baby
birds and animals orphaned by accident or de-
sign: They are always first TO fall in the battle
with the strong. Those alone that follow their
natural leaders till they learn wisdom live TO
grow up in the big woods" The instances OF
this training which have come under his eyes
are deeply interesting. He has seen young crows
go through exercise after exercise with wing
and leg in imitation of the mother standing be-
fore them; he has seen the little otters taken out
into the stream on the mothers broad back ana
suddenly tossed into the wafer to learn to swim
with maternal help at hand if they seem in dan
ger: he has watched the mother fishhawk show
ing her Young how to catch their fish. In this
technical school of the woods, he makes us see,
obedience is life Every wild mother knows II.
lives by it, hammers it into her little ones An-
then, he adds. come other secondary lessons
--Vilen to hide and when to run: how TO SWoop
and how to strike; how 10 sift and remember
the many sights and sounds and smells of the
world, and 10 suit action always and instanta-
r1eously to knowledge-all of which. repeat
are not so much matters of instinct as of care
full training and imitation. Since life is the re-
ward of this knowledge. the discipline is stern
and exact. yet we are assured that the little
pupils as well as their earnest teachers are
Joyous creatures. Fear. the author has dscoV-
cred is not instructive, but thing Of maternal
education; and in exquisite little sketch
what the Fawns Must Know, he illustrates
this by an account of his adventure with a pair
Of infant deer. He found the pretty creatures
hidden under hemlock boughs. where the mother
had placed them. They were only few days
old and they had not learned the fear that
means instant flight:
Their great. soft eyes had questioning inno- |
cence as they met yours which went straight |
your heart and made you claim the beautlfuI |
creature for your instantly. There is moth |
ing in all the woods that so takes your heart |
by storm the face Of a little fawn
They timid at first lying close, without |
motion of any kind. The instinct of obedience
the first and strongest instinct of every creature
born into this world-kept them loyal to the
nspther's command to stay where they were and
be still till she back. So after the
hemiock curtain was brushed aside and my
eyes saw and my hand touched them they kept
their heads fiat TO the ground, and pretended
that they were only parts of the brown forest
floor and that the spots on their bright coats |
but 6ecks of summer sunshine
felt then that I was intruder, that ought |
10 go away and leave them; but the little things
We're too beautiful. lying there in their wonder |
ful old den. with fear and wonder and question |
ings dancing in their soft eyes as they turned |
their hacks on me like a mschevous child play /
ing peekaboo.
The hand that touched the little wild things |
brought sense of danger with it. 1t searched |
out the spots behind their velvet where |
they love 10 be rubbed; it wandered down over |
their backs with little wavy caress in its mo- /
uon; it curied its palm up softly under their |
moist muzzes and brought their tongues out in
s1antly for the faint suggestion of salt that |
In it Suddenly their heads came up. Play was |
over now. They had forgotten their hiding their i
first lesson; they turned and looked at me full |
with their great, innocent. questioning eyes 1t |
was wonderful 1 undone One must give |
his life, if need be- TO defend the little things |
after they had looked at him first once like that
When rose at last, after petting them to my |
hearts content they staggered up to their feet
and came out Of their house. Their mother hau
told them to stay, but here another big, |
kind animal evidently, whom they might safely
trust Take the gifts the gods provide thee
was the thought in their little heads and the
taste in their tongues ends when they licked
my hand was the incest thing they had ever
known As / turned away they ran after me
with plaintiVe little cry to bring me back.
n1n liza
against me, one on either side, and lifted their
heads to be petted and rubbed again
The scene when the doe comes back to her
babies is as pretty this: and these are but |
two Of the charming wildwood glimpses to be
thankful fer IN this volume Every page is de- |
hghtful, whether the author writes of the par |
tridges rolcall. Of the fierce temper Of the moose
OF Quoskh, the keen eyed heron; of Mooween
the bear One curious fact he insists upon-in |
all his years Of watching in the forest he has |
never met an unhappy bird or animal, even one |
to whom life did not seem to offer brimming |
cup" He has noted the deer running from the |
hounds, and declares that he has never vet seen
one lose his perfect confidence in himself and his
splendid sense Of superiority over those that fol-
low him Once in deep snow" he saws .'I |
saved deer's life just the dogs were closing |
In on him; but up to the moment when he gave
his last bound and laid his head quietly on tba |
crust 70 rest, no evidence whatever Of the |
Wild terrors and fright excitement that We have !
attributed to driven creatures" Much of the |
suner1ns which man believes has been felt bv |
animals Mr. Long makes aware does not |
exist; and his final chapter on How the AMI |
mas Die Is understanding testimony to the |
merciful tenderness Of Mother Nature Death |
comes 10 them in the forest Businesses u,ftbou+
terror, without pain: it is drowsiness Of peace
We commend this book to all lovers of nature