grown enough to
enable them to feed entirely by themselves--but only on very tender
meat.

_The Tiger's Family Dinner_

It is very interesting to watch a tiger family having their dinner. I
may remind you again that some hunters who go into the jungle sometimes
hide in trees and watch the family life of different animals. So this is
what they have observed at the tiger's family dinner.

Suppose that the tiger has brought home a blue deer, which is a great
delicacy among tigers. He drops the blue deer in front of the den. He
and the tigress lie down and watch the cubs, who eat first. The tiger or
the tigress will not tell the cubs which portion of the deer is the
tenderest; they must find that out by themselves. That will be their
_first lesson_ in life.

So the tiger and tigress keep aside, and see what their children do. One
of the cubs makes a sudden grab at a leg of the deer, and tries to tear
out a mouthful; but to its disgust the cub finds that it cannot bite the
leg of the deer at all. I suppose then the father tiger gives a sort of
wink at the mother tigress; at any rate, the tiger and tigress just look
on, and say nothing.

Then another cub has a bite; perhaps it tries the back of the deer's
neck. But this cub also finds to its disgust that its teeth will not go
through the meat there.

In this way the cubs jump about the deer, and try to bite it in
different parts. They get more and more disgusted; but still the father
tiger and mother tigress say nothing.

Then at last one of the cubs dives in, and makes a grab at the _throat_
of the deer--and to its delight it finds that the meat there is quite
tender, and that it can tear out a piece very easily. Of course that cub
eats it quite greedily, and then has several more mouthfuls. But then--

"You have had enough!" says its father. "Give Brother and Sister a
chance!" Of course the father tiger does not say that in _our_ words;
and he need not say it in any kind of words. He just comes to that cub
and tumbles it over with a gentle pat.

Then the other cubs come to the throat of the deer, and have their
dinner also. As there is not sufficient meat there to satisfy all of
them, they soon find that the under part of the deer is also tender
enough for them to eat.

The father tiger and mother tigress eat last, when all the children are
satisfied. The tiger and tigress of course can eat any kind of meat, so
they eat the legs of the deer. And if it is a d