THE FOX AS A CAPTIVE 127 



of their prey, the gentle waving of the tail which we see, 

 is useful in distracting the attention of the intended 

 victim. So with the dog. If we watch a pack of hounds 

 we see that a hound who touches the line of a fox lashes 

 his stern from side to side. The pack in a covert do 

 the same when they think, but are not sure, that a 

 fox is there. Directly a hound begins to ' feather ' 

 the others take the waving of the stern as a signal : 

 they flock to him to see if they can make anything 

 of it. 



Now which is the cause of tail-wagging, pleasure 

 or a signal to the pack ? I think the fact that dogs, 

 cats, foxes and wolves all seem to show pleasure 

 by tail-wagging is a mark that a certain sense of 

 gratification is the spring of the action. The percep- 

 tion on the part of the others that one of their 

 number is expressing pleasure at the anticipation 

 of a kill brings the rest to him, and thus the signals 

 become a recognised code, as they help in the 

 capture of prey. So the cat and fox may just 

 move the tail as a sign of pleasure, or at least of 

 pleasurable expectation ; and if, as I have suggested, 

 the action was an advantage to the race, then it 

 would tend to become fixed. At all events there is no 

 reason to doubt that with the half-tame fox or wolf, 

 pleasurable expectation is at the root of the action. 



