OUR RURAL DIVINITY 125 



to gore the masters if she can get them in a tight 

 place. If such a one can get loose in the stable, 

 she is quite certain to do mischief. She delights 

 to pause in the open bars and turn and keep those 

 at bay behind her till she sees a pair of threatening 

 horns pressing towards her, when she quickly passes 

 on. As one cow masters all, so there is one cow 

 that is mastered by all. These are the two extremes 

 of the herd, the head and the tail. Between them 

 are all grades of authority, with none so poor but 

 hath some poorer to do her reverence. 



The cow has evidently come down to us from a 

 wild or semi- wild state; perhaps is a descendant of 

 those wild, shaggy cattle of which a small band is 

 still preserved in some nobleman's park in Scotland. 

 Cuvier seems to have been of this opinion. One of 

 the ways in which her wild instincts still crop out 

 is the disposition she shows in spring to hide her 

 calf, — a common practice among the wild herds. 

 Her wild nature would be likely to come to the 

 surface at this crisis if ever; and I have known 

 cows that practiced great secrecy in dropping their 

 calves. As their time approached they grew rest- 

 less, a wild and excited look was upon them; and 

 if left free, they generally set out for the woods, or 

 for some other secluded spot. After the calf is 

 several hours old, and has got upon its feet and had 

 its first meal, the dam by some sign commands it to 

 lie down and remain quiet while she goes forth to 

 feed. If the calf is approached at such time, it plays 

 "possum," pretends to be dead or asleep, till, on 



