291 HISTORY OK 



o|)('ii, and the dam stickles them for twenty days, after which 

 they leave her, and seek out for themselves.' From this we 

 observe, that the education these animals receive is but trifling, 

 and the family connection but of a short duration. In the rapa- 

 cious kinds the dam leads her young forth for months together ; 

 teaches them the arts of rapine ; and, although she wants milk 

 to supply them, yet keeps them luider her care until they are 

 able to hunt for themselves. But a long connection of this 

 kind would be very unnecessary as well as dangerous to the timid 

 animals we are describing ; their food is easily procured ; and 

 their associations, instead of protection, would only expose them 

 to their pursuers. They seldom, however, separate far from 

 each other, or from the place where they were produced ; but 

 make each a form at some distance, having a predilection rather 

 for the place than each other's society. They feed during the 

 night rather than by day, choosing the more tender blades of 

 grass, and quenching their thirst with the dew. They live also 

 upon roots, leaves, fruits, and corn, and prefer such plants as 

 are furnished with a milky juice. They also strip the bark of 

 trees during the winter, there being scarcely any that they will 

 not feed on, except the lime or the alder. They are particularly 

 fond of birch, pinks, and parsley. When they are kept tame, 

 they are fed with lettuce and other garden herbs ; but the flesh 

 of such as are thus brought up is always indifferent. 



They sleep or repose in their forms by day, and may be said 

 to live only by night.- It is then that they go forth to feed and 

 couple. They do not pair, however, but in the rutting season, 

 which begins in February ; the male pursues and discovers the 

 female by the sagacity of its nose. They are then seen by moon- 

 light, playing, skipping, and pursuing each other ; but the least 

 motion, the slightest breeze, the falling of a leaf, is sufficient to 

 disturb their revels ; they instantly fly off, and each takes a se- 

 parate way. 



As their limbs are made for running, they easily outstrip all 

 other animals in the beginning ; and could they preserve theii 

 speed, it would be impossible to overtake them ; but as tliey 

 exhaust their strength at their first efl^orts, and double back to 

 tlie place they were started from, they are more easily taken 



I Buffou, vol. xiii. p. \2. 2 Ih'uL 



