132 THE WOLVES. 



Tartary have different manners, probably from ne- 

 cessity, not choice. 



It is said that the burrows of wolves are originally 

 the work of other species, such as bears, badgers, 

 wolverenes, jackals, and foxes. They only fit them 

 for their own use; and when they burrow, it is 

 always in communities, so that not even bears can 

 dislodge them. In France and Southern Germany, 

 they now retreat under fallen trees, in the hollows 

 under large and old roots, in caves, clefts of rocks, 

 or overhanging banks, but always in the most 

 secluded and dense covers. We have seen a wolfs 

 den in a hollow tree, accessible between some high 

 roots. 



In vrell inhabited coimtries, where wolves are an 

 object of constant persecution, they never quit cover 

 to windward ; they trot along its edges until the 

 wind of the open country comes toward them, and 

 they can be assured by their scent that no suspicious 

 object is in that quarter ; then they advance, snuff- 

 ing the coming vapours, and keep as much as pos- 

 sible along hedges and brushwood to avoid detection, 

 pushing forward in a single foray to the distance of 

 many miles. If there be several, they keep in file, 

 and step so nearly in each other s track, that in soft 

 ground it would seem that only one had passed. 

 They bound across narrow roads without leaving a 

 foot print, or follow them on the outside. These 

 movements are seldom begun before dusk or pro- 

 tracted beyond daybreak. If single, the wolf will 

 visit outhouseS) enter the farm-yard, first stoppings 



