Page:Babyhood of Wild Beasts.djvu/156

126 and blind and has no features to speak of—in fact he is no larger than a baby mouse.

This baby is so tiny and helpless it is unable to move for weeks, not even to take nourishment without its mother's assistance. After a time it acquires a furry coat, grows strong enough to move about, gets plump and—and presto! One day out pops a little head from the magic pocket and baby Kangaroo takes his first peep at the beautiful green world.

I wonder what he thinks of it all after the snug life he has been leading in the quiet of his little pocket home? After a time he gets accustomed to the ways of the world and puts his little paws outside too.

While his mother eats the sweet green grass, he takes a little nibble now and then, and after some experience he gets to be quite a vegetarian.

One day he gets his courage screwed up to the proper pitch and hops out of the pocket and walks on the grass. It tickles his feet but he likes it. The fresh earth is cooling and fragrant. Then he takes tiny hops in imitation of his mother's way of travelling. It is lots of fun to bounce over the