THE WOLVES. 133 



listening, snuffing up the air, smelling the ground, 

 and springing over the threshold without touching 

 it. When he retreats, his head is low, turned 

 obliquely with one ear forward, the other back, his 

 eyes burning like flame. He trots crouching, his 

 brush obliterating the track of his feet, till at a dis- 

 tance from the scene of depredation; when going 

 more freely, he continues his route to cover, and as 

 he enters it, first raises his tail and flings it up in 

 triumph. 



It is said that a wolf, when pressed by hunger, 

 and roaming around farms, will utter a single howl 

 to entice the watch-dogs in pursuit of him. If they 

 come out, he will flee till one is sufficiently forward 

 to be singled out, attacked, and devoured ; but dogs 

 in general are more cautious, and even hounds re- 

 quire to be encouraged, or they will not follow 

 upon the scent. 



During winter, when food is scarce, wolves often 

 suffer the extremes of famine. Foiled in catching 

 their prey, they are reduced to peel off the bark of 

 some trees, and even to load their stomachs with 

 clay. It is then they will rush upon danger. The 

 French newspapers of January, 1838, contained an 

 account of an old wolf attacking a group of seven- 

 teen persons, wounding and disabling several, till 

 he was struck dead with an axe. It is at that period 

 they assemble in troops of from ten to twenty-five, 

 and boldly enter the streets of hamlets to attack the 

 dogs that may be out of doors ; and if one of their 

 own troop be wounded severely, the others immedi^ 



