58 BRITISH BIRDS. 



my favourite in the poultry-yard ; plenty of hens were 

 there, but no Yarico. The gate was open, and, as I 

 concluded she had sought the forbidden copse, I pro- 

 ceeded, accompanied by the yard-mastilF, a noble fellow, 

 steady and sagacious as a judge. At the end of a rag- 

 ged lane, flanked on one side by a quickset hedge, on 

 the other by a wild common, what was called the copse 

 commenced ; but before I arrived near the spot, I heard 

 a loud and tremendous cackling : I met two long-legged 

 pullets running with both wings and feet towards home. 

 Jock pricked up his sharp ears, and would have set off 

 at full gallop to the copse, but I restrained him, hastening 

 onward, however, at the top of my speed, thinking that I 

 had as good a right to see what was the matter as Jock. 



" Poor Yarico ! an impertinent fox-cub had attempt- 

 ed to carry off one of her children, but she had man- 

 aged to get behind them in the hedge, and venturing 

 boldly forth, had placed herself in the front, and posi- 

 tively kept the impudent animal at bay. His desire for 

 plunder had prevented his noticing our approach, and 

 Jock soon made him feel the superiority of an English 

 mastiff over a fox-cub. 



" The most interesting portion of my tale is to come. 

 Yarico not only never ventured into the copse, but 

 formed a strong friendship for the dog who preserved 



