ta_), commonly called the Partridge by Canadians:--"Every field
man must be acquainted with the simulation of lameness, by which many
birds decoy or try to decoy intruders from their nests. This is an
invariable device of the Partridge, and I have no doubt that it is
quite successful with the natural foes of the bird; indeed it is often
so with Man. A dog, as I have often seen, is certain to be misled and
duped, and there is little doubt that a mink, skunk, racoon, fox,
coyote, or wolf would fare no better. Imagine the effects of the
bird's tactics on a prowling fox: he has scented her as she sits; he
is almost upon her, but she has been watching him, and suddenly, with
a loud 'whirr,' she springs up and tumbles a few yards before him. The
suddenness and noise with which the bird appears cause the fox to be
totally carried away; he forgets all his former experience, he never
thinks of the eggs, his mind is filled with the thought of the wounded
bird almost within his reach; a few more bounds and his meal will be
secured. So he springs and springs, and very nearly catches her, and
in his excitement he is led on, and away, till finally the bird flies
off, leaving him a quarter of a mile or more from the nest.

"If instead of eggs the Partridge has chicks, she does not await the
coming of the enemy, but runs to meet and mislead him ere yet he is in
the neighbourhood of the brood; she then leads him far away, and
returning by a circuitous route, gathers her young together again by
her clucking. When surprised she utters a well-known danger-signal, a
peculiar whine, whereupon the young ones hide under logs and among
grass. Many persons say they will each seize a leaf in their beaks and
then turn over on their backs. I have never found any support for this
idea, although I have often seen one of the little creatures crawl
under a dead leaf."[45]

[45] Bendire, _Life Histories of North American Birds_
(_Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge_, vol. xxviii.),
1892, p. 64.

_Resistance in common by social animals._--If neither flight nor feint
has saved an animal from the hunter, he naturally fights as long as he
can, but this struggle _in extremis_ is rarely crowned with success.
Certain species, especially those which live in society, are able
nevertheless, by uniting their efforts, to resist enemies who would
easily triumph over them if they were isolated.

Among tribes of Apes mutual assistance, as des