SOME FEATHERED BUILDERS 45 



On the Continent the wolf is credited with 

 all the qualities of the fox, with a few more 

 thrown in ; and the wolf, it must be remem- 

 bered, is really dangerous. Reynard is harm- 

 less, so far as human beings are concerned. 

 Those who have had to do with numbers of 

 the wolf family have given them a bad name. 

 The Australian dingo is a bad lot at least the 

 sheep-farmers consider him as such. 



There are various ways of looking at matters : 

 creatures are good or bad so far as their actions 

 do or do not affect man's interest. Wild dogs 

 have been known from beyond record ; the 

 wolf, dingo, and fox belong to the family. 

 That they are most clever in a state of Nature 

 is nothing to wonder at, for from that family 

 we have the dog, man's most faithful and 

 devoted servant. 



Young animals in a state of Nature, like 

 children, amuse themselves by going through 

 the actions they will most likely have to carry 

 out in earnest after they have left their parents. 

 The mimic fights gone through by the cubs of 

 the fox, the otter, and the badger, end at times 

 in real pitched battle ; and their milk-teeth are 

 as sharp as needles. So the little demons for 

 the time being worry, tug, snarl, shriek, and 



