564 DAN BEARD'S ANIMAL BOOK 



the occurrence I was not certain in my mind that I had 

 seen the animal, and it was not until I had stepped for- 

 ward and examined its bed, which still felt warm to the 

 touch of my hand, that I was convinced that my eyes 

 had not played me a trick. 



THE WOODS ARE FULL OF TRAGEDIES; 



the lives of all its inhabitants end in tragedy, and all 

 the modern Nature books are filled with accounts of 



Even Reynard the Fox is Never Sure of His Quarry 



these tragedies, so that the casual reader is impressed 

 with the idea that there are practically no escapes. But 

 this is not true; even Pussy misses more birds than she 

 catches, and I have seen a fishhawk, one of the most 

 accurate of sportsmen, miss its quarry, and even Rey- 

 nard the Fox is never sure of the game he stalks. 



One June day while wading through the tall green 

 grass in Southern Ohio, I saw a red fox bounding up in 

 a manner which told me that it was watching something 



