130 THE WOODLANDS. 



many other animals capable of disputing the prize 

 with it. Once it so happened that Reynard (and 

 possibly some members of his family) had made an 

 excellent supper on an unprotected flock of fine young 

 turkeys about half-grown, eight of these were missing 

 the next morning. It seems that, after the four-footed 

 thief had satisfied his call of hunger, he naturally 

 bethought himself that his wife and children would 

 like a bit of turkey for supper on the following night ; 

 so he buried five of the remaining victims in an open 

 garden which was close by. Now, if the simpleton 

 had covered them all over with the soil on the 

 garden bed, I would have given him credit for 

 superior sagacity, but he actually left one wing of 

 each bird exposed to view, and it was this exposure 

 which led to their discovery. An ass in such a case 

 would have shown just as much talent and cunning 

 as Reynard had here exhibited. 



" In early youth I would often mount into a fine 

 old oak-tree on a moonlight night to watch the foxes 

 at their vesper pastime. Thus seated aloft I could 

 see the cubs as playful as kittens, catching each other 

 by their brushes, now standing on three legs as if in 

 the act of listening, then performing somersets, some- 

 times snarling, sometimes barking, and often playing 

 at a kind of hide-and-seek, as we used to do when I 

 was a lad at school." 



Much more rare is the Badger, which is equal to 

 the Fox in size, but more clumsy and retiring in its 

 habits. Badger-baiting was one of the cruel pastimes 

 of a more barbarous age ; but since its abolition we 

 seldom hear of the badger except in association with 



