METHODS OF DEFENCE. /I 



meet and mislead him ere yet lie is in the neighbour- 

 hood of the brood ; she then leads him far away, and 

 returning by a circuitous route, gathers her young 

 together again by her clucking. When surprised she 

 utters a well-known danger-signal, a peculiar whine, 

 whereupon the young ones hide under logs and 

 among grass. Many persons say they will each 

 seize a leaf in their beaks and then turn over on 

 their backs. I have never found any support for 

 this idea, although I have often seen one of the little 

 creatures crawl under a dead leaf."^ 



Resistance in common by social animals. — If neither 

 flight nor feint has saved an animal from the hunter, 

 he naturally fights as long as he can, but this struggle 

 in extremis is rarely crowned with success. Certain 

 species, especially those which live in society, are 

 able nevertheless, by uniting their efforts, to resist 

 enemies who would easily triumph over them if they 

 were isolated. 



Among tribes of Apes mutual assistance, as de- 

 scribed by Brehm, is common. When by chance a 

 bird of prey, such as an eagle, has thrown himself on 

 a young ape who is amusing himself far from the 

 maternal eye, the little one does not let himself be 

 taken without resistance ; he clings to the branches 

 and utters shrill and despairing cries. His appeals 

 are heard, and in an instant a dozen agile males 

 arrive to save him ; they throw themselves on the 

 imprudent ravisher and seize him, one by the claw, 

 another by the neck, another by a wing, pulling him 

 about and harassing him. The bird struggles as well 

 as he can, distributing around him blows from talons 



1 Bendire, Life Histories of North American Birds (^Smithsonian 

 Cont' ibutions to Knowledge, vol. xxviii.), 1892, p. 64. 



