How Animals Talk 



for at the sudden commotion he swooped, checked 

 himself when he saw that he was too late, and 

 climbed upward where he could view the whole 

 marsh again. 



Now these two hawks were of the same species, 

 and to my eyes they were acting very much alike. 

 One was hungry, on the lookout for food ; the other 

 was circling for his own amusement after having 

 fed; and though the eyes of birds are untrust- 

 worthy in matters of such fine distinction, in some 

 way these ducks instantly knew or felt the dif- 

 ference between the mood of one enemy and that 

 of another. Likewise, when I have been watching 

 deer in winter, I have seen a doe throw up her head, 

 cry an alarm and bound away; and her action 

 became comprehensible a few moments later when 

 a pack of hunting wolves broke out of the cover. 

 But I have watched deer when a pack of wolves 

 that were not hunting passed by in plain sight, and 

 beyond an occasional lift of the head for an alert 

 glance the timid creatures showed no sign of alarm, 

 or even of uneasiness, in presence of their terrible 

 enemies. 



I say confidently that one wolf pack was hunting 

 and the other not hunting because the northern 

 timber-wolf naturally (that is, in a wild state and 

 dealing with wild animals) hunts or kills only when 

 he is hungry. I ran the trails of both packs, and 



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