’ 
LITERARY TREATMENT OF NATURE 
upon and destroy a member of the flock that is sick, 
or hurt, or blind, is difficult of explanation, but we 
may be quite sure that, whatever the reason is, the 
act is not the outcome of a judicial proceeding in 
which judge and jury and executioner all play their 
proper part. Wild crows will chase and maltreat 
a tame crow whenever they get a chance, just why, 
it would be hard to say. But the tame crow has 
evidently lost caste among them. I have what I 
consider good proof that a number of skunks that 
were wintering together in their den in the ground 
fell upon and killed and then partly devoured one 
of their number that had lost a foot in a trap. 
Another man sees a fox lead a hound over a long 
railroad trestle, when the hound is caught and killed 
by a passing train. He interprets the fact as a 
cunning trick on the part of the fox to destroy his 
enemy! A captive fox, held to his kennel by a long 
chain, was seen to pick up an ear of corn that had 
fallen from a passing load, chew it up, scattering 
the kernels about, and then retire into his ken- 
nel. Presently a fat hen, attracted by the corn, 
approached the hidden fox, whereupon he rushed 
out and seized her. This was a shrewd trick on 
the part of the fox to capture a hen for his dinner! 
Jn this, and in the foregoing cases, the observer 
supplies something from his own mind. That is 
what he or she would do under like conditions. 
True, a fox does not eat corn; but an idle one, tied 
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