A Natural History for Young People: Our Animal Friends in Their Native Homes Including Mammals, Birds and Fishes

OUR animal friends are usually supposed to be included in the home pets, and the domestic animals which are useful to us in so many ways; but when we learn how closely some of the wildest and fiercest of animals are of the greatest benefit to mankind, how they resemble us in the formation of their bodies, and in the care and love for their little ones, how the many different kinds of animals scattered all over the world are related to each other, and how they are divided into families, we will have a more friendly feeling toward all the wonderful creatures which are often looked upon as the enemies of mankind, and a greater interest in their habits and lives in their native homes.

In this little volume of Natural History we will not only study our animal friends as individuals, but will learn of their relationship to each other, carefully arranged and classified, but much more easily understood, than the classification found in the numerous great volumes of encyclopedia of Natural History.

We are always interested in the relatives of our human friends; even their distant relations living in far off countries soon have a special interest for us when they are closely connected to our friends, and we are constantly learning of their manner of living and their doings in distant lands. In the same manner we find new interest in the fierce wild animals of other countries when we learn how they are related to our domestic animals and home pets.

We find that not only the Wild Cats, but the fierce Lions, Tigers, Panthers, Leopards, Lynxes, Pumas, Jaguars, and many smaller animals, belong to the same family as our pet Cats. The Wolf, Jackal, Hyena, and many different kinds of Foxes are all closely related to our good friends, the Dogs. The Sheep and Cows have some very fierce relations in distant countries, as the Gnu and Yak and Bison, and also some very accommodating and useful relations, like the Camel, Dromedary, Llama and Paca, who are as helpful to their masters and owners as the domestic animals of this country. We would not suppose at first thought that our Horses belong to the same family as the Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, Elephant, and the Tapir and many smaller animals which are classified with them, besides the different kinds of Ponies, Donkeys, and the Dauw and Quagga and Zebra.