218 THE HACOOX. 



shire pastures, and in thought he would recross the 

 Atlantic, and imas^ine himself in the Harborouorh 

 country, but a closer inspection would soon dispel the 

 illusion. The familiar * brush ' would be found unlike 

 the black-tipped and ringed tail of the 'coon. In its 

 taste for food it resembles the fox even more nearly 

 than it does in shape. It likes flesh and fowl, green or 

 ripe corn and fruits, and could keep a Lent on flsh and 

 eggs without doing a very disagreeable penance. It 

 has one gi'eat advantage over the English fox, and it 

 greatly excels the climbing qualities of the American 

 fox : it can climb a tree as Cjuick as a wild cat. 



In the South, and on the sea-coast especially, the 

 'coon almost lives upon turtle-eggs, oysters, and 

 mussels. He watches the turtle deposit her eggs in 

 the sand, and then quietly digs them up and devours 

 them. ^Mlen the oyster-beds are left dry, or nearly dry, 

 by low tides, he preys upon the bivalves. Unhappy 

 fish left by the tide in shallows are fished for and eaten. 

 Concealed by the rushes or flags or tall grass on the 

 margin of river, pond, or lake, he watches for any 

 waterfowl which mav come \\dthin his reach, and he 

 rarely misses his spring. When the Indian corn is 

 tasselling, the racoon is aware of the fact as soon as 

 the planter, and his visits are as constant as they are 

 undesired. In the interior it frequents the rivers and 

 creeks, hunting their edges for fresh-water shellfish 

 or whatever it can secure, and seeking for frogs, 



