Semi=weekly graphic., 1898-12-24
CANINE LANGUAGE.
THREE STORIES THAT SHOW DOGS
 GAN TALK.

A Case of Satisfying Dogs Sense of Hon.
 or-New Zealand Greyhounds at Their
 PIay-An Insistent Committee of Dogs
 and Its Work.
 We were speaking of the power pos- sessed by some animals of communi- eating their ideas one to another, and my friend kindly furnished me with two, or three stories to illustrate the point. He said: James Cumming was fishing a stream near Coupar, and was much annoyed by a small terrier which 1 followed him along the path, barking, till he turned and "flicked" the dog over the nose with his fishing rod, when the dog at once ran off. My friend went on with his fishing, and forgot the incidenttill he noticed the small dog re- turning, trotting by the side of large retriever, who without any growing or preliminaries, quietly bit Cummings heel, and in the same quiet and digni- fled manner at once retired, honor having been satisfied
 In the district of Rangitikei, New Zealand, where lived for some years, hares were very plentiful, and coursing was a sport indulged in by everybody, the result being that greyhounds swarmed in the townships; and while their owners were busy, they were fn- 1 clined to suffer from ennui, and thus it happened that some fifteen or twenty hounds would often trot out of the village, quite unattended, about quarter of a mile, to paddock oppo- site my house, and there they would mass up in one cog1er close to the gate. l Presently one of khe number would dash out from the mob towards the middle of the field,. and when it had got some fifty or seventy yards start, would begin to double" and twist ex- l actly as a hare would do when hard l pressed. The pack would at once com menee the chase, while the ''hare" dog lodged and turned at full speed, till at last he was "collared" and pulled down, when the panting pack would re- turn to the rendezvous at the gate, and after brief "blow" another dog would break away and assume the role Of hare" This sport I have seen carried on for nearly an hour at q stretch, perfectly spontaneous on the part of the dogs.
 Another curious story was told me by Dr. Frank Wallace Mckenzie of Wellington, N. Z, whose father owned a run in Otago, which was much over run by rabbits In order to keep the rabbits in check, if possible, nonde- script pack of dogs was kept at the station to hunt rabbits for their living. 1 The pack was composed of half-breed l greyhounds and collies chiefly, and l they were in the habit of going out every morning quite by themselves and hunting ali day, returning in the even ing to the station. A very small Scotch terrier always accompanied these ex- petitions, his small body allowing him to take the part of a ferret, and turn the rabbits out of their burrows. The dog, therefore, became necessary to others if they wanted really good sport; but there were times-as this dog grew old-when the comforts of the kitchen fire outweighed the joyous excitement of digging rabbits out of the snow, and as he was a privileged individual, and his daily bread did not depend entirely upon the slaughter of the chase, he would sometimes absent himself from the meet; but the other dogs knew better than to start without him, so a deputation would return to the kitchen to ask him to
 reconsider his position" and being armed with wider powers of persuasion than most deputations, when this one was met with snarls and growls, it set upon the object of its prayers and dragged him out of the place. At once he was surrounded by the pack, and hurried off to the hunting ground by the pack in no very gentle manner. Once there, the spirit of the chase would come over him, and his stiffness wear off, but the same performance would probably have to be gone through next morning. I have often wondered what. the other dogs did when this terrier died.
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