THE RED FOX. 257 



and it hangs suspended for a few moments onlj 

 by its tail, in the meantime trying to regain its 

 hold with its hind hands : but another sudden 

 jerk breaks the twig, and down comes the poor 

 animal, doubled up like a ball, into the opened 

 jaws of eager and relentless canine foes; the 

 poor creature drops, and yields to fate with- 

 out a struggle. 



In this manner half-a-dozen or more opos- 

 sums are sometimes captured before midnight. 

 The subsequent boasts about the superior noses, 

 speed, and courage of the several dogs that com- 

 posed this small motley pack — the fat feast that 

 succeeded on the following evening, prolonged 

 beyond the hour of midnight, the boisterous 

 laugh and the merry song, we leave to be 

 detailed by others, although we confess we 

 have not been uninterested spectators of such 

 scenes. 



"Let not ambition mock their useful toil, 

 Their homely joys and destiny obscure, 

 Nor grandeur hear with a disdainful smile, 

 The simple pleasures of the humble poor." 



The habit of feigning death to deceive an 

 enemy is common to several species of quad- 

 rupeds, and we on several occasions witnessed 

 it in our common red fox. But it is more 

 strikingly exhibited in the opossum than in 

 22* R 



