ANIMALS AND THEIR CLOTHES 255 



horse duly " hatted," and the hat trimmed with 

 ribbons. Next came a lady in a victoria wearing a 

 hat. Her horse also had a hat, and both hats had 

 pink flowers in them. 



The assumption of garments is carried to such a 

 pitch of elaboration by some animals that they actually 

 wear, or are made to wear, disguises, "and the same with 

 intent to deceive." There is a duck-decoy dog known 

 to the writer which has begun, in the first instance, by 

 growing as like a fox as it is possible for a dog to be. 

 This in itself is vastly attractive to the ducks, which 

 seem to have an irresistible impulse to swim after a 

 fox and see what he is up to. But after a few days 

 they get used to the dog, and do not feel any more 

 curiosity. Thereupon his master supplies him with 

 a disguise, tying over his shoulders and back a jacket 

 made out of a dirty-white sheepskin rug. The dog 

 dances about with delight as soon as this is put on, 

 as he knows that it means a fresh start in life for 

 a day or so. The ducks soon get tired even of that ; 

 whereupon the dog's master takes down another dress 

 from a peg in his reed-shed, a black rough woollen 

 jacket, and tries its effect. The dog apparently 

 knows exactly what it all means. There is another 

 decoy dog in Yorkshire which is fitted up with a 

 complete fox-skin over its back, with a brush to 

 make the disguise more complete. 



Some controversy arose lately with the local autho- 

 rities near Epping Forest as to whether a pig could 

 legally be kept in a dwelling-house. The owner of 

 the pig kept it as a pet, and pleaded that it was an 



