20 WILD TRAITS IN TAME ANIMALS. 



elusion he must come to before he stirs hand 

 or foot. Is it merely a belated fox slinking 

 home to his earth in the oak-grove ? He knows 

 that fox well and all his kindred within an area 

 of several square miles. Or is some larger and 

 more terrible beast, some huge brindled macJiai- 

 rodiis, or cave-bear, prowling among the woods 

 in front of him ? Within a few minutes, while 

 he stands there scarcely moving an eyelid, he 

 has received reports enough from the disturbed 

 birds and beasts in the valley to fill a column 

 in the ' Times,' By comparing the different 

 notes of alarm which reach his ears he learns 

 at length that there are two sources of provo- 

 cation afoot : one is comparatively near to him, 

 and is merely a fox or wild cat, he cannot tell 

 which — for the chaffinches and the jays have 

 the same name for both ; but the other, where 

 first he heard the blackbird's vehement outcry, 

 is a larger beast, which, from the shifting cries 

 of protest, seems passing slowly down the river- 

 bank. As far as he can judge, considering its 

 beat and the time of day, it is a sabre-toothed 

 tiger on the prowl for deer. These conclusions 

 have been come to, not only through the gather- 

 ing of innumerable facts, but by means of elab- 



