Where Silence Is Eloquent 



one showed plainly that the wolves were in search 

 of food ; while the other said that the brutes were 

 roaming the country idly, lazily; and when I ran 

 the back trail of this second pack I found where 

 they had just killed and eaten. The deer were not 

 afraid of them because they were for the time quite 

 harmless. 



At first I thought that these ducks and deer per- 

 ceived the mood of their enemies in a simple way 

 through the senses ; that they could infer from the 

 flight of a hawk or the trot of a wolf whether he 

 were peaceable or dangerous ; and at times this is 

 probably the true explanation of the matter. The 

 eyes of most birds and beasts, strangely dull to 

 objects at rest, are instantly attracted to any 

 unusual motion. If the motion be quiet, steady, 

 rhythmical, they soon lose interest in it, unless it 

 be accompanied by a display of bright color; but if 

 the motion be erratic, or if it appear and disappear, 

 as when an approaching animal hides or creeps, 

 they keep sharp watch until they know what the 

 motion means or until timidity prompts them to 

 run away. Thus, chickens or ducks show alarm 

 when a kite slants up into the air; they lose in- 

 terest when the kite sits in the wind, and become 

 alert again when it begins to dive or swoop. It 

 is noticeable, also, that on a windy day all game- 

 birds and animals are uncommonly wild and dif- 



[i59] 



