The Burgess Animal Book for Children - Thornton W. Burgess (great book club books txt) 📗

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THE BURGESS ANIMAL BOOK FOR CHILDREN

Thornton W. Burgess

 

TO THE CAUSE OF WILD LIFE IN AMERICA, ESPECIALLY THE MAMMALS MANY OF WHICH ARE SERIOUSLY THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION, THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED.

PREFACE

The cordial reception given the Burgess Bird Book for Children, together with numerous letters to the author asking for information on the habits and characteristics of many of the mammals of America, led to the preparation of this volume. It is offered merely as an introduction to the four-footed friends, little and big, which form so important a part of the wild life of the United States and Canada.

There has been no attempt to describe or classify sub-species. That is for the scientist and student with specific interests. The purpose of this book is to acquaint the reader with the larger groups—orders, families, and divisions of the latter, so that typical representatives may be recognized and their habits understood.

Instead of the word mammal, the word animal has been used throughout as having a better defined meaning to the average child. A conscientious effort to avoid technical terms and descriptions has been made that there may be nothing to confuse the young mind. Clarity and simplicity have been the objects kept constantly in view.

At the same time the utmost care to be accurate in the smallest details has been exercised. To this end the works of leading authorities on American mammals have been carefully consulted and compared. No statements which are not confirmed by two or more naturalists of recognized standing have been made.

In this research work the writings of Audubon and Bachman, Dr. E.W. Neson, Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Dr. W.T. Hornaday, Ernest Thompson Seton and others, together with the bulletins of the Biological Survey of the Department of Agriculture at Washington, have been of the greatest value. I herewith acknowledge my debt to these.

Whatever the text may lack in clearness of description will be amply compensated for by the wonderful drawings in color and black-an-white by Mr. Louis Agassiz Fuertes, the artist-naturalist, whoese hearty cooperation has been a source of great help to me. These drawings were made especially for this book and add in no small degree to such value as it may possess.

If the reading of these pages shall lead even a few to an active interest in our wild animals, stimulating a desire to preserve and protect a priceless heritage from the past which a heedless present threatens through wanton and reckless waste to deny the future, the labor will have been well worth while.

Only through intimate acquaintance may understanding of the animals in their relations to each other and to man be attained. To serve as a medium for this purpose this book has been written. As such I offer it to the children of America, conscious of its shortcomings yet hopeful that it will prove of some value in acquainting them with their friends and mine—the animals of field and wood, of mountain and desert, in the truest sense the first citizens of America. THORNTON W. BURGESS

 

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I JENNY WREN GIVES PETER RABBIT AN IDEA Peter arranges to go to school to Old Mother Nature.

II PETER AND JUMPER GO TO SCHOOL The Cottontail Rabbit, Northern Hare and Marsh Rabbit.

III MORE OF PETER’S LONG-LEGGED COUSINS The Swamp Hare, Arctic Hare, Prairie Hare, Antelope Jack and common Jack Rabbit.

IV CHATTERER AND HAPPY JACK JOIN The Squirrel family and order of Rodents.

V THE SQUIRRELS OF THE TREES The Red, Gray, Fox, Kaibab and Abert Squirrels.

VI STRIPED CHIPMUNK AND HIS COUSINS The Chipmunk, Spermophiles, and Flying Squirrel.

VII JOHNNY CHUCK JOINS THE CLASS The Woodchuck and his ways.

VIII WHISTLER AND YAP YAP The Whistling or Hoary Marmot and Prairie Dogs.

IX TWO QUEER LITTLE HAYMAKERS The Pika or Cony and the Mountain Beaver or Sewellel.

X PRICKLY PORKY AND GRUBBY GOPHER Introducing the Porcupine and Pocket Gopher.

XI A FELLOW WITH A THOUSAND SPEARS More about the Porcupine.

XII A LUMBERMAN AND ENGINEER The Beaver and his works.

XIII A WORKER AND A ROBBER The Muskrat and the Brown or Norway Rat.

XIV A TRADER AND A HANDSOME FELLOW The Cotton Rat, Wood or Pack Rat and the Kangaroo Rat.

XV TWO UNLIKE LITTLE COUSINS Whitefoot the Wood or Deer Mouse and Danny Meadow Mouse, also called Field Mouse.

XVI DANNY’S NORTHERN COUSINS, AND NIMBLEHEELS The Banded and Brown Lemmings and the Jumping Mouse.

XVII THREE LITTLE REDCOATS AND SOME OTHERS The Pine Mouse, Red-backed Mouse, Rufous Tree Mouse, Rock Mouse and Beach Mouse.

XVIII MICE WITH POCKETS, AND OTHERS The Silky and Spiny Pocket Mice, Grasshopper Mouse, Harvest Mouse and House Mouse.

XIX TEENY WEENY AND HIS COUSIN The Common or Long-tailed Shrew or Shrew Mouse, Short-tailed Shrew or Mole Shrew and Marsh or Water Shrew.

XX FOUR BUSY LITTLE MINERS The Common Mole, Brewer’s or Hairytailed Mole, Oregon Mole and Star-nosed Mole.

XXI FLITTER THE BAT AND HIS FAMILY The Red Bat, Little Brown or Cave Bat, Big Brown or House Bat, Silvery Bat, Hoary Bat and Bigeared Bat.

XXII AN INDEPENDENT FAMILY The Common Skunk, Hog-nosed or Badger Skunk and Little Spotted Skunk.

XXIII DIGGER AND HIS COUSIN GLUTTON The Badger and Wolverine or Carcajou.

XXIV SHADOW AND HIS FAMILY The Common or Bonaparte Weasel or Ermine, New York Weasel, Long-tailed or Yellow-bellied Weasel, Least Weasel and Blackfooted Ferret.

XXV TWO FAMOUS SWIMMERS Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter.

XXVI SPITE THE MARTEN AND PEKAN THE FISHER The Pine Marten or American Sable and the Fisher or Pennant Marten.

XXVII REDDY FOX JOINS THE SCHOOL The Red, Black and Silver Foxes, Gray Fox, Kit Fox Or Swift, Desert Fox, Arctic and Blue Foxes.

XXVIII OLD MAN COYOTE AND HOWLER THE WOLF The Prairie Wolf or Coyote and the Timber or Gray Wolf.

XXIX YOWLER AND HIS COUSIN TUFTY The Bay Lynx or Bob Cat and the Canada Lynx or Lucivee.

XXX SOME BIG AND LITTLE CAT COUSINS Puma the Panther, also called Cougar and Mountain Lion, The Jaguar, the Ocelot, and the Jaguarundi Cat or Eyra.

XXXI BOBBY COON ARRIVES The Raccoon and the Civet or Ring-tailed Cat, also Called Coon Cat and Bassaris.

XXXII BUSTER BEAR NEARLY BREAKS UP SCHOOL The Black Bear and his habits.

XXXIII BUSTER BEAR’S BIG COUSINS Silvertip, the Grizzly Bear, the Alaska or Great Brown Bear and the Polar Bear.

XXXIV UNC’ BILLY AND OLD MRS. POSSUM The Virginia Opossum, which is the only American Marsupial.

XXXV LIGHTFOOT, BLACKTAIL AND FORKHORN The White-tailed or Virginia Deer, Blacktailed Deer And Mule Deer.

XXXVI BUGLER, FLATHORNS AND WANDERHOOF The Elk or Wapiti, Moose or Caribou.

XXXVII THUNDERFOOT, FLEETFOOT AND LONGCOAT The Buffalo or Bison, Antelope or Musk-Ox.

XXXVIII TWO WONDERFUL MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS The Rocky Mountain Sheep or Bighorn and the Rocky Mountain Goat.

XXXIX PIGGY AND HARDSHELL The Peccary or Wild Pig and the Armadillo.

XL THE MAMMALS OF THE SEA The Sea Otter, Walrus, Sea Lions, Seals and Manatee Or Sea Cow.

 

THE BURGESS ANIMAL BOOK FOR CHILDREN

 

CHAPTER I Jenny Wren Gives Peter Rabbit an Idea

“As sure as you’re alive now, Peter Rabbit, some day I will catch you,” snarled Reddy Fox, as he poked his black nose in the hole between the roots of the Big Hickory-tree which grows close to the Smiling Pool. “It is lucky for you that you were not one jump farther away from this hole.”

Peter, safe inside that hole, didn’t have a word to say, or, if he did, he didn’t have breath enough to say it. It was quite true that if he had been one jump farther from that hole, Reddy Fox would have caught him. As it was, the hairs on Peter’s funny white tail actually had tickled Reddy’s back as Peter plunged frantically through the root-bound entrance to that hole. It had been the narrowest escape Peter had had for a long, long time. You see, Reddy Fox had surprised Peter nibbling sweet clover on the bank of the Smiling Pond, and it had been a lucky thing for Peter that that hole, dug long ago by Johnny Chuck’s grandfather, had been right where it was. Also, it was a lucky thing that old Mr. Chuck had been wise enough to make the entrance between the roots of that tree in such a way that it could not be dug any larger.

Reddy Fox was too shrewd to waste any time trying to dig it larger. He knew there wasn’t room enough for him to get between those roots. So, after trying to make Peter as uncomfortable as possible by telling him what he, Reddy, would do to him when he did catch him, Reddy trotted off across the Green Meadows. Peter remained where he was for a long time. When he was quite sure that it was safe to do so, he crept out and hurried, lipperty-lipperty-lip, up to the Old Orchard. He felt that that would be the safest place for him, because there were ever so many hiding places in the old stone wall along the edge of it.

When Peter reached the Old Orchard, who should he see but Jenny Wren. Jenny had arrived that very morning from the Sunny South where she had spent the winter. “Tut, tut, tut, tut, tut!” exclaimed Jenny as soon as she saw Peter. “If here isn’t Peter Rabbit himself! How did you manage to keep out of the clutches of Reddy Fox all the long winter?”

Peter chuckled. “I didn’t have much trouble with Reddy during the winter,” said he, “but this very morning he so nearly caught me that it is a wonder that my hair is not snow white from fright.” Then he told Jenny all about his narrow escape. “Had it not been for that handy hole of Grandfather Chuck, I couldn’t possibly have escaped,” concluded Peter.

Jenny Wren cocked her pert little head on one side, and her sharp little eyes snapped. “Why don’t you learn to swim, Peter, like your cousin down in the Sunny South?” she demanded. “If he had been in your place, he would simply have plunged into the Smiling Pool and laughed at Reddy Fox.”

Peter sat bolt upright with his eyes very wide open. In them was a funny look of surprise as he stared up at Jenny Wren. “What are you talking about, Jenny Wren?” he demanded. “Don’t you know that none of the Rabbit family swim unless it is to cross the Laughing Brook when there is no other way of getting to the other side, or when actually driven into the water by an enemy from whom there is no other escape? I can swim a little if I have to, but you don’t catch me in the water when I can stay on land. What is more, you won’t find any other members of my family doing such a thing.”

“Tut, tut, tut, tut, Peter!” exclaimed Jenny Wren in her sharp, scolding voice. “Tut, tut, tut, tut! For a fellow who has been so curious about the ways of his feathered neighbors, you know very little about your own family. If I were in your place I would learn about my own relatives before I became curious about my neighbors. How many relatives have you, Peter?”

“One,” replied Peter promptly, “my big cousin, Jumper the Hare.”

Jenny Wren threw back her head and laughed and laughed and laughed. It was a most irritating and provoking laugh. Finally Peter began to lose patience. “What are you laughing at?” he demanded crossly. “You know very well that Jumper the Hare is the only cousin I have.”

Jenny Wren laughed harder that ever.

“Peter!” she gasped. “Peter, you will be the death of me. Why, down in the Sunny South, where I spent the winter, you have a cousin who is more closely related