THE HORSE. 75 



alarmed or excited. A horse will always hold its 

 head high ; whereas a cow, if startled or sus- 

 picious, usually keeps its head rather below the 

 level of the spine, even when it has no intention 

 of using its horns. The reason of this difference 

 is, that the wild horse is in the habit of watchino- 

 the horizon for danger, and therefore — like the 

 look-out man at sea — finds elevation an advan- 

 tage ; whereas the cow, whose ancestors were 

 forest animals, instinctively holds her head so as 

 to see under the interlacing boughs. Obviously 

 also a dweller in the woods is able to make better 

 progress when its head is kept low than when it 

 is raised. It would be quite easy, if some new 

 animal were brought to this country for the first 

 time, to decide whether its natural habitat was in 

 the forest or on open plains by observing the 

 manner in which it habitually carried its head. 

 The chamois, the prong-horn antelope of America, 

 the gazelle, the guanacoes of the uplands of Pata- 

 gonia, as well as the wild horses and the wild 

 asses, habitually hold the head high ; whereas 

 the forest deer, antelopes that dwell in the bush, 

 buffaloes, and all wild cattle, adopt a converse 

 attitude, as if to obtain a clearer view among the 

 tree-stems. 



