Various

“ A scarcity may mean much suffering to them, while an abundance will mean plenty and comfort. In filling their little granaries, they detect every worm-eaten or defective nut, and select only the soundest fruit, conveying it, one by one, to its secret home. Feeding abundantly on the rich products of a fruitful season, the Squirrel becomes very fat before the commencement of winter, and is then in its greatest beauty, the new fur having settled upon the body, and the new hair having covered the tail with its plumy fringe. ”

“ About the close of March on the plains of Missouri we heard this species of Grouse tooting or humming in all directions, so that at a distance the sound might be taken almost for the grunting of the Bison or the loud croak of the Bull-frog. While uttering his vehement call the male expands his neck pouches to such a magnitude as almost to conceal his head, and blowing, utters a low drumming bellow like the sound of k-tom-boo! ”

“ Life is so swift and relentless that most of its subjects fall by the way and give up their substance so effectually that there is no memory or record left upon the face of the earth that such a form has ever been. ”

“ Just why I am delighted with the landscape before me is beyond my power to tell, and the reasons for the varying feelings that course through me are too numerous for recognition. But with all these thronging sensations and reflections that occupy me, there is a multitude of others that escape me because I have not had my soul opened in their directions. ”

“ Oxygen is greedy to attack almost everything, the others unite but sparingly and feebly. From these elements, life chooses combinations that are easily changed in form and light enough to stand up from the earth, to swim in the waters, and even to fly in the atmosphere. So gaseous and quick to change are the things of life that life itself has the reputation of being fleeting. Development is a change in the arrangement of parts, and function is a transformation of motion. ”

“ Every new item of nature's news that breaks upon the consciousness increases capacity for pleasure for all time. He who meets nature with enlightened senses is rewarded every day of his life for the pains taken in delightful study by way of preparation. A landscape is infinitely enhanced to him who has pursued the science of color with some diligence. ”

“ He who knows nature and has a habit of seeing things carries with him a fruitful source of happiness. It requires technical knowledge to use any of the mechanical appliances with which civilized life is crowded. It requires artistic training to appreciate any of the great productions of the leaders in the fields of ideal pleasure. But there is no preparation demanded by nature herself of those who would enjoy her feasts. ”

“ The sounds of the forest speak tenderly to all; but he who knows the secrets of melody and harmony, and the limits of human skill in music, has worlds of delight in the forest that others may not enter. And so has the swain whose childhood was spent among the voices of the trees. The sense of smell has a thousand raptures for the man whose nose has lived up to its possibilities. ”

“ The bird was intoxicated on the berries of the Pride of China, known throughout the south as the poison or mad-berry.
In Florida thousands of respectable Northern Robins, that would blush to do it at home, are found lying about in the state of grossest drunkenness from the same cause. We wondered if some blue-ribbon society might not be profitably started among these poor birds. But they do not know any better.
We have this advantage over them, we know the mad-berry when we see it. It is to our disgrace if we do not let it alone. ”

“ To look upon all nature broadly with the familiarity which comes only from long acquaintance and scientific investigation of her various aspects is the highest type of living. While this is not possible to all, yet, much of it may be experienced by every one who has the desire and follows it. The leading facts of all the sciences are open to all who care to know them. The beauties and mysteries of the world are constantly inviting us. ”

“ There are men who make it a business to go Wolf hunting in order to secure their "pelts," or hides. The bait they use is the carcass of some animal, elk, deer, or coon, which they impregnate with poison, and leave in a place which will do the most good. In the morning sometimes as many as fifty dead Wolves will be found scattered about the carcass whose flesh they had so ravenously devoured. A Wolf skin is worth about one dollar and a half, so that it pays a hunter very well to "catch" a number of these mean animals. ”

“ Yonder comes a dozen; they will fly right over you; no, they swerve fifty yards to one side and pass you like bullets; single out your bird, hold four feet in front of him, and when he is barely opposite cut loose. Following the crack of the gun you hear a sharp whack as the shot strike, and you have tumbled an old cock into the grass. ”

“ But whether in the economy of nature the joys of life are regarded as sufficient reward to every living creature, there follows fast upon the heels of its usefulness a period of lamentable decline. The elements which were so facile in building up the individual are no longer active in furnishing energy, repair, and growth. ”

“ The fierceness of the disposition of this animal, usually called by the common name of Wild Cat, and its strength and agility, are well known, for although it is said that it does not seek to attack man, yet "when disturbed in its lair or hemmed in, it will spring with tiger-like ferocity on its opponent, every hair on its body bristling with rage," and is altogether an ugly customer to meet with. ”

“ The organism loses its attractiveness for its kind, the pulse of life weakens, and the corpse falls to the earth, yielding rapidly to a process of transformation called decay, which is merely a giving up of what has been recently of use to this form of life to some new form of the same sort or a different one. ”

“ By getting next to other substances, or by getting them inside, the organism draws within itself new matter of its own selection. It chooses always material that is chemically similar to itself, and we say it grows. Where it wears away in the pursuit, it makes repairs with the fresh material. Where the pursuit is wearing, and requires great activity or strength, the new matter is consumed in furnishing energy alone.
When the period of growth is well advanced, the living thing matures organs for the preservation of its kind. Male and female are distinguished. ”

“ AT one time the Black Wolf of America was considered by naturalists to be only a variety of the common Wolf, but it is now believed to be a distinct species, not only by reason of the color of its fur but from differences of stature, the position of the eye, the peculiar bushiness of the hair and other evidence entitling it to rank as a separate species. ”

“ Looking out over the face of the world, we note that there are two sorts of material to be considered. One is alive or was produced by the action of life, and the other is material which has never known a want. ”

“ A seed marks the female element in the plant, and in the animal an ovum or egg. And as soon as the race has been provided for, the individual is of no more use upon the face of the earth. It has served its purpose, and merits a reward. ”

“ When domesticated the female Rabbit will often devour her young, a practice which has been considered incurable. This propensity has, however, been accounted for by natural causes. It has been the custom to deprive pet Rabbits of water on the ridiculous plea that in a wild state they do not drink, obtaining sufficient moisture from the green herbs and grasses which constitute their food, but in the open country they always feed while the dew lies upon every blade, which of course is never the case with green food with which domestic Rabbits are supplied. ”

“ The trap is made so narrow that the Wolf cannot turn himself, and when he is closed in by the treacherous door, he is put to death by spears.
Wood says that when Wolves and Dogs are domesticated in the same residence a mutual attachment will often spring up between them, although they naturally bear the bitterest hatred to each other. A mixed offspring is sometimes the result of this curious friendship, and it is said that these half-breed animals are more powerful and courageous than the ordinary Dog. ”

“ In its native wilds the Ocelot seeks its food chiefly among the smaller mammalia and birds, although it is strong enough to attack and destroy a moderate sized monkey. It chases the monkeys into the tree branches, and is nearly as expert a climber as they are, but, as it cannot follow the birds into the airy region, it is forced to match its cunning against their wings, and it rarely secures them. As is often done by the domestic cat it can spring amongst a flock of birds as they rise from the ground, and, leaping into the air, strike down one or more of them with its swift paw. ”

“ In the intervals of feeding we sometimes hear the male also cackling, or, as it were, crowing like ko, ko, koop, koop! While engaged in fighting with each other, the males are heard to utter a rapid, petulant cackle, something in sound like excessive laughter. ”

“ This may be formed into cells or not, but it is from this beginning the scale of living things springs, rising in beautiful and mysterious forms till the earth is enveloped and beautified so that we can hardly think of it except as the receptacle prepared by Omniscience for the entertainment of living beings, all of which point to the highest and speak of the expansion and eternal value of the human soul. ”

“ All things that live are made up chemically principally of four of the elements of the universe which are best adapted by their characteristics for the purposes of life. Three are gases, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen; one is a solid, carbon. ”

“ Rabbits live in burrows, which are irregular in construction and often communicate with each other. From many of its foes the Rabbit escapes by diving into its burrow, but there are some animals, as the Weasel and Ferret, which follow it into its subterranean home and slay it. Dogs, especially those of the small terrier breeds, will often force their way into the burrows, where they have sometimes paid the penalty of their lives for their boldness. ”

“ How extensive a business it is may be judged from the fact that they have found it profitable to make a journey of six months to South America for the purpose of increasing the size of their collection, and that they have in India, China, and several other parts of the world agents who collect for them and ship the butterflies to them here. ”

“ Tender and juicy, he has always paid for his apparent despoliation, and his destruction of much injurious insect life rather favors his protection.
The Squirrel is a variable animal in point of color, the tint of its fur changing with the country it inhabits. It is easily tamed, and is a favorite domestic pet. ”

“ If imprisoned in even a large space, they crouch timidly in the corners, and do not venture to attack man when he enters the cage. Audubon mentions a curious instance of this strange timidity in a ferocious nature, of which he was an eye-witness: "A farmer had suffered greatly from Wolves, and determined to take revenge by means of pitfalls, of which he had dug several within easy reach of his residence. ”

“ But because she is so free with the race in giving pleasure to all her guests, it must not be inferred that cultivation and systematic pursuit will not be rewarded. All eyes are blind until they have been opened, and all ears deaf till they have learned desire. ”

“ The Wolf produces from three to nine young in a litter. In January the mother Wolf begins to prepare her habitation, a task in which she is protected or assisted by her mate, who has won her in a fair fight from his many rivals. He attaches himself solely to one mate, and never leaves her till the young Wolves are able to shift for themselves. The den in which the young cubs are born is warmly lined with fur which she pulls from her own body. ”

“ The texture of the wings is also infinitely more beautiful than anything we have here, some of them having a heavy rich gloss that exceeds that on the finest fabric that human skill can produce, while others have the deep changing lustre of gems or liquids. ”

“ Can instinct alone teach, or have experience and reason taught these birds that, far better than the bark of trees or crevices in rocks or any other hiding place are these hidden cavities they make for themselves with the hollow stems of distant plants? ”

“ They are sometimes hunted on horseback with hounds, but they can run with such speed when frightened, that no ordinary dog can keep up with them. Among the pack are one or more greyhounds, who bring the wolf to bay and allow the other dogs to come up. ”

“ The nest is placed on the ground in the thick prairie grass, and at the foot of bushes on the barren ground; a hollow is scratched in the soil, and sparingly lined with grass and feathers. The nest is so well concealed that it is not often discovered. The eggs are from ten to twelve, and of a plain brownish color. The female alone protects and attends the young, brooding them under her wings in the manner of the domestic fowl. ”

“ Azamet, on the contrary, smiled, and his eyes beamed with joy. "Thanks be to God, who gives strength to the unfortunate," said Usbeck. "The man who had a gorgeous palace in the rich plains of Ghilem is contented with a hut in the wildest part of Khorasan!"
Presently, when they drew near Azamet's hut they heard a young horse neigh, and saw him come galloping to meet them. When he came near Azamet, he caressed him, and ran home before him. ”

“ The work of preparing the butterflies for sale and exhibition is all done in a small building back of their house on Washington street at Wellesley, and keeps them busy nearly all the time that they are not collecting. When the butterflies are sent or brought in, each is in a small paper folder, which protects it from friction or breakage. The insects are laid with their wings together and pressed, being then put into the folder, and shipped in small boxes, enough being put into each box to prevent them from slipping about. ”

“ It is true that most Rabbits burrow in the ground, their burrows having many devious ramifications, but the Cottontail usually makes his home in a little dug-out, concealed under a bush or a tuft of grass. ”