32 WILD TRAITS IN TA^IE AXniALS. 



of his master as his own place of abode in which 

 he has certain vested interests, and while he is 

 complaisant and submissive to the regular inhabi- 

 tants, he looks upon strangers of all kinds with 

 suspicion, and regards their intrusion as an in- 

 fringement of his rights, or contrary to his sense 

 of what is lawful. Although watch -dogs have 

 doubtless been valued for many generations, and 

 their distinctive qualities cultivated by artificial 

 selection, it seems clear that here w^e are dealing 

 with an original instinct. 



The pariah dogs of Constantinople and other 

 Eastern cities, which are practically as untamed 

 as their fellow-scavengers, the vultures, crows, 

 and jackals, and which probably have only in the 

 slightest degree ever come under direct human 

 influence, have the same habit. Each street is 

 the recognised dwelling - place of an irregular 

 pack, and dogs — and in some cases even men 

 — from other quarters are warned off or at- 

 tacked if they cross the boundary. 



It is said also that the wild dogs of India will 

 drive off a tiger if he strays into the neio-h- 

 bourhood of their chosen habitat. Even tame 

 wolves will, without being taught, threaten a 

 stranger if he comes near their master's house 



