l8 WILD TRAITS IN TAME ANIMALS. 



arrows. After a keen look at the sky and up 

 and down the valley, he moves stealthily away 

 among the bracken and brambles towards a spot 

 where the spotted deer of the forest are wont 

 to drink at the stream. As he steps silently 

 along, his eyes and ears are alert for the least 

 indication of the presence of prey or of danger- 

 ous neighbours. A hundred facts have already 

 been observed and commented upon (although 

 perhaps unconsciously) before he arrives at the 

 river-bank. He has, in fact, during this short 

 "journey to business" been reading his morning 

 paper, including the Weather Forecast, the News 

 of the Night, and the State of the Markets as 

 they affect his own special calling. As in the 

 case with most of us when we read our modern 

 newspapers, many of the items displayed before 

 his eyes do not awake any interest. For in- 

 stance, the varnished petals of the buttercups 

 which reflect the golden sunlight are there to 

 catch the attention of the wild bees which are 

 already fussing around them. Such advertise- 

 ments do not concern him at all, and he does 

 not trouble himself about them any more than 

 we trouble ourselves about wants of people with 

 whom we have no points of contact. As he 



