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Each new patrol of each troop selects a color and a name. The name is that of some bird or animal after the Indian fashion, and the one chosen becomes their "totem" name or patrol animal. Thus a patrol is known as "Wild ‘Cats," "Otters," "Beavers," "Buffalos," "Wolves," or anything the patrol members decide upon. Each Scout in a patrol should be able to imitate the call of his patrol animal. Thus the Scouts of the Wolf Patrol should be able to imitate a wolf. In this way Scouts of the same patrol can communicate with each other when in hiding or the dark of night. It is not honorable for a Scout to use the call of any patrol except his own. The members of each patrol are distinguished from those of other patrols by their colors, which are worn upon the left shoulder in a shoulder knot.

Each troop of Boy Scouts is named after the place to which it belongs, as for example, Troop No. 1, 2, 3 or 4 of New York or San Francisco. Each Scout in a patrol has a number, the patrol leader being No. 1, the assistant patrol leader No. 2, and the other Scouts the remaining consecutive numbers. Scouts in this way should work in pairs, Nos. 3 and 4 together, Nos. 5 and 6 together, Nos. 7 and 8 together. The patrol leader calls up his patrol at will by sounding his whistle and by giving the call of the patrol. Each patrol leader carries a small flag on the end of his staff with the head of his patrol animal shown on each side. .

When the Scout makes signs anywhere for others to read he also draws the head of his patrol animal. This is to say, that if he were out scouting and wanted to show that a certain road should not be followed by others, he would draw the sign "not be followed" across it and add the name of his patrol animal in order to show which patrol discovered that the road was bad, and by adding his own number at the left of the head would show which Scout had discovered it. For such purposes the Scouts are also supposed to know the different Indian and Scouting signs.

To win the rank of first-class scout, a boy must pass ten more hard tests. There are higher requirements in money saving, life saving, athletics, camp cooking, map-making and reading, judgment of size, direction and distance without instruments, knowledge of nature,