ANIMALS WHICH SHAM DEATH 31 



or green-plover is a notable example which resorts 

 to this practice, while the Canadian ruffed grouse 

 and the willow ptarmigan are also stated to indulge 

 in a similar means of deception. Dr. W. L. Ralph 

 tells us that the American ground dove wiU act in 

 this manner, and in reference to the species, he wrote 

 in the Nineteenth Century : — ' When one is driven 

 from a nest containing eggs it wUl drop to the 

 ground as if shot, and will then flutter around as if 

 wounded, to try to draw the persons disturbing it 

 away from the nest. . . .' Then, again, Mr. C. A. 

 Allen writes about a brood of young plumed par- 

 tridges which he came across in Oregon, as follows : — 

 ' The male who had charge of them performed the 

 usual tactics of feigning lameness, and tried his very 

 best to draw my attention from the young. . . .' 

 It is also a well-known fact that wild ducks will 

 sometimes pretend to be lame, and endeavour to 

 entice the distmrber of their harmony from the 

 vicinity of their nests. 



Even amongst the invertebrates we find examples 

 which feign death ; the wood-louse, for instance, 

 rolling itseK up into a ball when disturbed, and 

 remaining motionless until it considers all danger has 

 passed ; while certain caterpillars and spiders will 

 act also in a similar manner. 



