28 THE INDUSTRIES OF ANIMALS. 



flee more than two hundred yards. He succumbs 

 beneath vigorous blows on his skull from the beaks of 

 his assailants. During winter, in the high regions of 

 the Alps, when the soil is covered with snow, this 

 chase is particularly fruitful for ravens. The story 

 is told of that unfortunate hare who had hollowed 

 out in the snow a burrow with two entrances. Two 

 of these birds having recognised his presence, one 

 entered one hole in order to dislodge the hare, the 

 other awaited him at the other opening to batter his 

 head with blows from his beak and kill him before he 

 had time to gain presence of mind.^ 



Rooks sometimes hunt in burrows by ingeniously- 

 concerted operations. Mr. Bernard^ has described 

 the interesting way in which the Rook hunts voles or 

 field-mice in Thuringia. His curiosity was excited 

 by the way in which numerous rooks stood about a 

 field cawing loudly. In a few days this was ex- 

 plained : the field was covered with rooks ; the 

 original assemblage had been calling together a 

 mouse-hunt, which could only be successfully carried 

 out by a large number of birds acting in conjunction. 

 By diligently probing the ground and blocking up 

 the network of runs, the voles, one or more at a 

 time, were gradually driven into a corner. The hunt 

 was very successful, and no more voles were seen in 

 that field during the winter. 



Coursing. — Other animals are not easily discouraged 

 by the swiftness of their prey ; they count on their 

 own resistance in order to tire the game ; some of 

 them also manage their pursuit in the most intelligent 

 way, so as to preserve their own strength while the 



' F. von Tschiidi, Les Alpes, Berne and Paris, 1859. 

 ''■ Zoologist, October 1892. 



