Born Ernest Thompson in South Shields, County Durham, England, on August 14, 1860, the author of Wild Animals I Have Known adapted the ancestral family name of Seton in 1901.

After backing Prince Charles in the unsuccessful Stuart Rebellion of 1745, Seton's Scottish ancestors had fled south to England, where they became shipbuilders and shipowners. When the author's father, Joseph Logan Thompson, lost his merchant ships, the family immigrated to Canada in 1866. They lived for a brief period in Lindsay, Ontario, a small town surrounded by forests and an ideal site for a boy who had become fascinated with wildlife.

They left the woods in 1870, but Seton had already learned many of the skills in woodcraft that would make him an acknowledged expert in the field. Seton discovered his artistic talent and began sketching birds and animals while a student in the Toronto public schools.

He studied at...