INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE. 



most seductive prey will not attract him ; and even when the 

 cause of danger is not present, the desired object is long regarded 

 with suspicion. The wolf therefore, observes Leroy, must neces- 

 sarily have an abstract idea of the danger, since he cannot be 

 supposed to have a knowledge of the snares which are spread for 

 him on any particular occasion. 



112. The following curious anecdote of the habits of hawks and 

 falcons is related by M. Bureau de la Malle.* 



These birds, when they return from the pursuit of their " prey 



at the season when their younglings have become sufficiently 



fledged to rise on the wing, 

 bring back in their talons 

 some object, such as a mouse 

 or sparrow, which they have 

 killed, for the purpose of giv- 

 ing a lesson to their young 

 in the art of capturing their 

 prey. These birds are ob- 

 served to have peculiar calls, 

 which their young understand, 

 and which are always repeated 

 for the same purpose. M. de 

 la Malle, who had a lodging 

 in the Louvre, observed one 

 day a male and female falcon 

 thus returning and bringing 

 with them a dead sparrow in 

 their talons. They soared in 

 the air over their nest, calling 

 their younglings with the cry 

 intended to summon them to 



rise on the wing. When the young birds thus rose, the old ones, 



* Memoire sur le devellopement des facultes intellectuelles des Animaux. 

 166 



