=A first course in zoology.=--The first "course," then, in the study of animals should include the fundamental facts in all these branches or parts of zoology. That is what the course outlined in this book tries to cover. But no text-book of zoology can really give the student the knowledge he seeks. He must find out most of it for himself; a text-book, based on the experiences of others, is chiefly valuable for telling him how to work most effectively to get this knowledge for himself. And the best students always find out things which are not in books. Especially can the beginning student find out things not known before, "new to science," as we say, about the behavior and habits of animals, and their relations to their surroundings. The life-history of comparatively few kinds of animals is exactly known; the instincts and habits of comparatively few have been studied in any detail. The kinds of food demanded, the feeding habits, nest-building, care of the young, cunning concealment of nest and self, time of egg-laying or of producing young, duration of the immature stages and the habits and behavior of the young animals--a host, indeed, of observations on the actual life of animals, remain to be made by the "field naturalist." Any beginning student can be a "field naturalist" and can find out new things about animals, that is, can add to the science of zoology. [Illustration: FIG. 1.--Dissection of the Garden Toad (_Bufo lentiginosus_).] FOOTNOTE: [3] Zoology is formed from two Greek words: _zoon_, meaning animal, and _logos_, meaning discourse. CHAPTER II THE GARDEN TOAD (_Bufo lentiginosus_) LABORATORY EXERCISE