LITERARY TREATMENT OF NATURE 



upon and destroy a member of the flock that is sick, 

 or hurt, or blind, is difficult of explanation, but we 

 may be quite sure that, whatever the reason is, the 

 act is not the outcome of a judicial proceeding in 

 which judge and jury and executioner all play their 

 proper part. Wild crows will chase and maltreat 

 a tame crow whenever they get a chance, just why, 

 it would be hard to say. But the tame crow has 

 evidently lost caste among them. I have what I 

 consider good proof that a number of skunks that 

 were wintering together in their den in the ground 

 fell upon and killed and then partly devoured one 

 of their number that had lost a foot in a trap. 



Another man sees a fox lead a hound over a long 

 railroad trestle, when the hound is caught and killed 

 by a passing train. He interprets the fact as a 

 cunning trick on the part of the fox to destroy his 

 enemy! A captive fox, held to his kennel by a long 

 chain, was seen to pick up an ear of corn that had 

 fallen from a passing load, chew it up, scattering 

 the kernels about, and then retire into his ken 

 nel. Presently a fat hen, attracted by the corn, 

 approached the hidden fox, whereupon he rushed 

 out and seized her. This was a shrewd trick on 

 the part of the fox to capture a hen for his dinner ! 

 In this, and in the foregoing cases, the observer 

 supplies something from his own mind. That is 

 what he or she would do under like conditions. 

 True, a fox does not eat corn ; but an idle one, tied 

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