74 THE INDUSTRIES OF ANIMALS. 



compassionate towards their fellows who are enslaved 

 by man, and if a harnessed cart meets on its road a 

 free band, it is a serious matter to the owner. They 

 run up and surround the enslaved horse, saluting 

 him with their cries and gambols, having the air of 

 inviting him to throw his harness to the winds and 

 follow them on the plain, where grass grows for all 

 without work. Naturally the driver endeavours to 

 preserve his noble conquest, and distributes blows 

 with the whip to those who wish to debauch it. Then 

 the wild horses become furious, and throw themselves 

 on the vehicle; they break it with their feet and cut 

 their comrade's traces with their teeth to enable 

 him to share their own free life. The enterprise 

 satisfactorily concluded, they gallop away neighing 

 in triumph. 



It is owing to their union in large bands that Crows 

 have so little to fear from diurnal birds of prey; if 

 one approaches, they do not hesitate to throw them- 

 selves on him altogether. The Great Horn Owl, 

 however, causes many ravages among them; for 

 when asleep at night the Crow is without defence 

 against the ravisher, for whom, on the contrary, 

 obscurity is propitious. Thus they recognise him 

 as a hereditary enemy, and never allow an oppor- 

 tunity of revenge to pass without profiting by it. 

 If by chance an owl appears by day and one of 

 them perceives him, immediately a clamour arises — 

 a veritable cry of war; all those who are in the 

 neighbourhood fly to the spot, and business ceases; 

 the nocturnal bird of prey is assaulted, riddled with 

 blows from beaks, stunned, his feathers torn out, 

 and, notwithstanding his defence, he succumbs to 

 numbers. 



