II§ WILD TRAITS IN TAIME ANIMALS. 



shingle of the mountain-side, at once warns the 

 sentry of the grazing herd. The long, movable 

 ears of the ass will enable him to judge the direc- 

 tion from which a sound comes to a nicety, and 

 many a time they have doubdess saved him from 

 a violent death. 



Then consider his mao-nificent voice ! What 

 could be better adapted for advertising his pres- 

 ence to his comrades on the neighbouring moun- 

 tains, or for challenging his rivals from afar, when 

 the echoes take up his defiant "hee-haw," until 

 every caiion and crag within half a mile rings 

 with its repetition ? It sounds ridiculous enough 

 in the streets, I admit — but so do the Highland 

 bagpipe and the yodel of the Swiss mountaineer. 

 But whatever merits the ass may have as a public 

 speaker, it must be admitted that he does not 

 shine in conversation. Whenever he opens his 

 mouth, it is to utter a set oration of a strictly 

 formal character. He has none of the small talk 

 of his cousin the horse. If you, being his friend, 

 go into his stable, he will greet you silently (pos- 

 sibly because he has no speech prepared which 

 he deems worthy of the occasion), whereas the 

 horse is always ready with a remark, especially 

 if it is near feeding - time. JNIoreover, it may 



