OF isUTURAL HISTORY. 4ll 



belly vvltii his hind-legs extended. It is in this iituation that 

 he eyes the birds on the hedges and trees. The birds have 

 fuch an antipathy againfl him, that they no fooner perceive 

 him than they fend forth fhrill cries to advertife their neigh- 

 bours of the enemy's approach. The jays and blackbirds, 

 in particular, follow the fox from tree to tree, fometimes 

 two or three hundred paces, often repeating the watch-cries. 

 The Count de Buffon kept two young foxes, which, when 

 at liberty, attacked the poultry ; but, after, they v/ere chain- 

 ed, they never attempted to touch a Ungle fowl. A living 

 hen was fixed near them for whole nights -, and, though 

 deftitutc of vidluals for many hours, in fpite of hunger and 

 of opportunity, they never forgot that they were chained, 

 and gave the hen no difturbance. 



In Kamtfchatka, the animals called gluttons employ a fingu- 

 lar ftratagem for killing the fallow-deer. They climb up a 

 iree, and carry with them a quantity of that fpecies of mofs 

 of which the deer are very fond. When a deer approaches 

 near the tree, the glutton throws down the mofs. If the deer 

 flops to eat the the mofs, the glutton inftantly darts down up- 

 on its back and, after fixing himfelf firmly between the horns, 

 tears out its eyes, which torm.ents the animal to fuch a degree, 

 that, whether to put an end to its torments, or to get rid of its 

 cruel enemy, it ftrikes its head agalnft the trees till it falls 

 down dead. The glutton divides the flefh of the deer into 

 convenient po rtions, and conceals them in the earth to ferve 

 for future provifions. The gluttons on the river Lena kill 

 horfes in the fame manner*. 



There are feveral fpecies of rats in Kamtfchatka. The 

 moft remarkable kind is called tcgukhitch by the natives. 

 Thefe rats make neat and fpacious nefts under ground. They 

 are lined with turf, and divided into different apartments, in 

 which the rats depofit ftores of provifions for fupporting 

 them during the winter. It is worthy of remark^ that the 

 * Gazette Literaire, vol, x. page 481. 



