Each Animal has the Gift he Needs Most XI. THE CAMEL The Camel's Wonderful Gifts XII. THE CAMEL AND THE THIEF XIII. BEARS The Polar Bear American Bears Other Bears XIV. BEARS: THE TRICKY TRAP XV. BRIGHT BIRDS The Flamingo The Parrot The Cockatoo The Peacock The Golden Pheasant The Snowy Egret XVI. THE CAGED PARROT * * * * * ILLUSTRATIONS MIDNIGHT POOL: ANIMALS DRINKING Frontispiece THE BUFFALOES AND THE BLUE DEER AN ELEPHANT GIVING HIMSELF A SHOWER BATH. AN ELEPHANT MAMMA CARRYING HER CHILD ACROSS THE RIVER AN ELEPHANT BREAKING A TREE WITH HIS FOOT ELEPHANT PULLING BANANAS OUT OF A TRICKY TRAP THE BUFFALO THAT LIVES IN INDIA THE TIGER AND THE RING OF BUFFALOES TAME WATER BUFFALOES PLOWING IN THE RICE FIELDS ANTELOPE ELK ARABIAN CAMEL--WITH ONE HUMP BACTRIAN CAMEL--WITH TWO HUMPS SAND STORM IN THE DESERT CROSSING THE DESERT WITH CAMELS POLAR BEAR HIMALAYAN BLACK BEAR A BEAR FIGHTING A BLOCK OF STONE A FLAMINGO COLONY SNOWY EGRETS * * * * * THE WONDERS OF THE JUNGLE CHAPTER I The Midnight Pool My dear, I shall tell you all about the wonders of the jungle. You have seen many animals in the zoo or in a circus--elephants, bears, lions, tigers, leopards, and many others. But the jungle is the place where these animals live before they are brought to the zoo or the circus. In fact, _jungle_ really means a _wild place_; that is, a place where trees and bushes grow quite wild, so that men never cut down the trees or clear away the bushes. That is the natural home for all sorts of animals. Now I am going to tell you about the wonderful way in which they live there with their families, as we do in our homes; for the Papas and Mammas among the animals are just as fond of their children as ours are. So you must _imagine_ that you are going into the jungle with me, so that I can show you everything. You see, it is just like a game of _pretending_, that we are going to play. There is actually a place in the jungle where you can see all the animals at once. In fact, that place is so wonderful that King George and Queen Mary of England went to see it; that was a few years ago, when they went to India, which is a far-away country. For in India there is a huge jungle where many thousands of animals live. So you must _pretend_ that I am taking you to the Royal party, and that you are sitting with the King and Queen and all the fine men and lovely ladies; and we are watching the animals, while I tell you all about them. First, I must tell you that it is midnight, and all the animals are coming to a stream of water to drink. This stream is a river about twice as wide as a large street in your home town. We are sitting on the bank, on one side of the stream; and the animals are coming to drink on the bank on the other side. "But," you may say, "will not the animals see us across the stream, and get frightened and run away?"