64 SQUIRRELS AND OTHER FUR-BEARERS 



places, as on the peak of the barn or hay-shed, 

 or on the tops of the apple-trees, their tails 

 spread and their manners showing much excite- 

 ment. Perchance one turkey is minus her tail, 

 the fox having succeeded in getting only a 

 mouthful of quills. 



As the brood grows and their wings develop, 

 they wander far from the house in quest of grass- 

 hoppers. At such times they are all watchful- 

 ness and suspicion. Crossing the fields one day, 

 attended by a dog that much resembled a fox, I 

 came suddenly upon a brood about one third • 

 grown, which were feeding in a pasture just .be- 

 yond a wood. It so happened that they caught 

 sight of the dog without seeing me, when in- 

 stantly, with the celerity of wild game, they 

 launched into the air, and, while the old one 

 perched upon a treetop, as if to keep an eye on 

 the supposed enemy, the young went sailing over 

 the trees toward home. 



The two hounds before referred to, accom- 

 panied by a cur-dog, whose business it was to 

 mind the farm, but who took as much delight in 

 running away from prosy duty as if he had been 

 a schoolboy, would frequently steal off and have 

 a good hunt all by themselves, just for the fun 

 of the thing, I suppose. I more than half sus- 

 pect that it was as a kind of taunt or retaliation 



