56 The English Wild Ball. 



the park is bounded on one side by a public road, 

 from which, it is ouly separated by a paled fence, 

 which is not the case at Chillingham, so that they 

 are at Chartley much more habituated to the sight 

 of man. All the wild white cattle possess a pecu- 

 liarity which distinguishes them from domestic 

 cattle; namely, that they hide their calves, 

 " concealing them " we again quote Robert 

 Brown " among long grass or reeds in some 

 brushwood or thicket, and approaching them 

 cautiously twice or thrice a day for the purpose 

 of supplying them with the necessary nourishment. 

 On these occasions it is not a little dangerous to 

 approach the place of retreat, the parent cow 

 being seldom at any great distance, and always 

 attacking any person or animal approaching it 

 with the utmost resolution and fury." The young 

 calves, when startled, lie with their heads close to 

 the ground and with their ears back close upon 

 their necks, "like a hare in her form; " but are 

 said to butt fiercely if touched, calling the while to 

 attract the attention of the herd. 



The writer of Bewick's well-known account 

 of these cattle, who was apparently intimately 

 acquainted with the Chillingham herd, tells us 

 that on one occasion he " found a hidden calf, two 

 days old, very lean and very weak : on stroking 

 its head, it got up, pawed two or three times like 

 an old bull, bellowed very loud, stepped back a 

 few steps, and bolted at his legs with all its force. 

 It then began to paw again, bellowed, stepped 



