THE WOLVES. 133 
listening, snuffing up the air, smelling the ground, 
and springing over the threshold without touching 
it. When he retreats, his head is low, turned 
obliquely with one ear forward, the other back, his 
eyes burning like flame. He trots crouching, his 
brush obliterating the track of his feet, till at a dis- 
tance from the scene of depredation; when going 
more freely, he continues his route to cover, and as 
he enters it, first raises his tail and flings it up in 
triumph. 
It is said that a wolf, when pressed by hunger, 
and roaming around farms, will utter a single howl 
to entice the watch-dogs in pursuit of him. If they 
come out, he will flee till one is sufficiently forward 
to be singled out, attacked, and devoured ; but dogs 
in general are more cautious, and even hounds re- 
quire to be encouraged, or they will not follow 
upon the scent. 
During winter, when food is scarce, wolves often 
suffer the extremes of famine. Foiled in catching 
their prey, they are reduced to peel off the bark of 
some trees, and even to load their stomachs with 
clay. It is then they will rush upon danger. The 
French newspapers of January, 1838, contained an 
account of an old wolf attacking a group of seven- 
teen persons, wounding and disabling several, till 
he was struck dead with an axe. It is at that period 
they assemble in troops of from ten to twenty-five, 
and boldly enter the streets of hamlets to attack the 
dogs that may be out of doors; and if one of their 
own troop be wounded severely, the others immedi- 
