592 Home Nature-Study Course. 



In one respect the wild habit still persists with our sheep, for many 

 of them are able to get their living on poor soil where a cow would starve. 

 They eat the grass much more closely than do cows. Let the pupils 

 look at the teeth of the sheep and see how they are fitted for cropping 

 very closely the grass and the tough weeds. The legs of the sheep are 

 short and small, and it has cloven hoofs, like the cow. However, the 

 upper part of the leg is much developed to fit the animal for leaping. 

 Note that the lamb's legs are very long in proportion to its body, and 

 this is because the lamb must follow the flock in times of danger. The 

 senses of smell and hearing are acute in the sheep. Let the pupils study 

 carefully the eye of the sheep and note how it differs from that of the 

 cow. The fleece of wool is the most marked characteristic of the sheep, 

 and is especially adapted for protecting its wearer from the cold of high 

 mountain climates. Note that we shear ofif the wool in the early summer, 

 which is a great relief to the sheep in our climate, and furnishes us with 

 clothing as well. If possible the teacher should read " The Flock," 

 a volume written of the sheep and their herders in the far west. 



LESSON CLXII. 



THE HABITS OF SHEEP. 



Purposes. — To call attention to some of the interesting habits of 

 sheep. 



Lambs have two games which they play untiringly ; one is the 

 regular game of " follow my leader," each one striving for the place of 

 leader. Note that in playing this they run in most dif^cult places, over 

 logs and stones and across brooks ; thus it is a training for the later 

 life when to follow the leader may save the flock. The other game is 

 peculiar to stony pastures. A lamb will climb to the top of a boulder 

 and its comrades will gather around and try to butt it off ; the one which 

 succeeds in doing this climbs on the rock and is " it." Sheep not only 

 escape from enemies by jumping and climbing in difUcult places, but 

 they also fight by butting with their hard heads and horns. Let any 

 pupil in school who has had experience with a cosset lamb, which almost 

 invariably gets cross as it grows older, relate his experience. The great 

 horns on the heads of wethers were probably developed quite as much 

 for fighting each other as for fighting the enemy. Note that we cut ofT 

 the lamb's tail so that later it will not get completely filled with burTs 

 and filth. In southern Russia a breed of sheep has been developed with 

 a large, flat tail, which is considered a great table delicacv. This tail 

 becomes so large and heavy that a small cart is fastened under it so 

 that it is supported on wheels and trundles along behind its owner. 



