I04 Habit and Instinct. 



i ■ 



it. A very common experience on the pampas, in the 

 sheep country, is to see a lamb start up from sleep and 

 follow the rider, running close to the heels of the horse." 

 " This blundering instinct is," however, " quickly laid aside 

 when the lamb has learned to distinguish its dam from 

 other objects, and its dam's voice from other sounds." 



Speaking of the old native breed of sheep, which, 

 descended from those introduced three centuries ago, have 

 in great measure lost the qualities which make sheep 

 valuable to man as a food and wool-producing animal, 

 but have, on the other hand, to some extent recovered 

 the vigour of a wild animal, Mr. Hudson says,* "I 

 have often seen a lamb dropped on the frosty ground in 

 bitterly cold windy weather in midwinter, and in less than 

 five seconds struggle to its feet, and seem as vigorous as 

 any day-old lamb of other breeds. The dam, impatient at 

 the short delay, and not waiting to give it suck, has then 

 started off at a brisk trot after the flock, with the lamb, 

 scarcely a minute in the world, running freely at her side." 



Some other mammals, belonging to different groups, are 

 fairly active very soon after birth. Guinea-pigs, seventeen 

 hours old, placed on Dr. Mills's study table, ran so fast as 

 nearly to reach the edge before they were caught. Hares 

 are said to run almost as soon as they are born. Mr. 

 Hudson, in the chapter just quoted, describes how quite 

 young bats were able (though they could not fly) to 

 " work their way upwards through the leaves and slender 

 twigs in the most adroit manner," until they reached 

 a considerable height, "when they proceeded to hook 

 themselves on to a twig and assume the inverted position 

 side by side." If we may credit "the experienced 

 hunter," whom Thunberg quotes, a hippopotamus calf, 

 only just born, escaped from the Hottentots who rushed 



* Loc. cit, pp. 108, 109. 



