64 THE INDUSTRIES OF ANIMALS. 



The Gold-winged Woodpecker of the United States 

 {Colaptes auratiis) often escapes Falcons either by 

 throwing himself into the first hole that he finds, or if 

 he cannot find one, through seizing the trunk of a tree 

 with his claws. As he is a very good climber, he 

 describes rapid spirals around it, and the falcon 

 cannot in flying trace such small circles. By this 

 method the Colaptes usually escapes.^ 



The Fox, who is so ingenious in hunting, is not 

 less so when his own safety is concerned. He knows 

 when it is best to flee or to remain; he is suspicious in 

 a surprising degree, not only of man but also of the 

 engines which man prepares against him. He recog- 

 nises them or smells them. Certain facts almost lead 

 us to suspect that he understands their mechanism. 

 When one of them has been surprised in his hole, 

 and the trap has been placed before every opening, 

 he will not emerge from the burrow. If hunger 

 becomes too imperious, he recognises that patience 

 will only change the manner of his death, and then 

 he decides to dare fate ; but previously he had done 

 everything to flee without passing over the snare. 

 As long as he had claws and strength he hollowed out 

 the earth to form a new issue, but hunger rapidly 

 exhausted his vigour and he was not able to complete 

 the work. Foxes thus trapped have recognised imme- 

 diately when one of these engines went off, either 

 owing to another animal being caught or from some 

 other reason. In this case the captive understands 

 very well that the mechanism has produced its 

 effect, that it is no longer to be dreaded, and he 

 boldly emerges. 



1 Audubon, Ornithologkal Bio!;iaphy, New York and Edinburgh, 

 18JI-49. 



