76 
CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
dered what motive could have prompted him to commit such 
a crime—she would have delighted in wringing his black neck. 
From a standpoint of revenge, such a course might have been 
recommended, but results would have been lacking. Finally 
out of the tenderness of her heart, she yielded to a finer im¬ 
pulse and gave him his milk instead. When he had his fill of it, 
he disappeared across the field and out into the timbered lands, 
returning presently with the ring, cawing to attract the atten¬ 
tion of the member of the family from which it had been stolen 
and held for ransom. 
The vulture has, at times, enlisted the interest of the writer, 
who has observed for many years that he will not hesitate to 
alight upon the crossbars of telephone lines, but avoids at all 
costs loitering about high tension electric lines. We cannot but 
wonder just which one of his senses reveals the fact to him 
that death is wrapped up in this whole contrivance—surely it 
is not his sense of touch, since none of the flock could ever 
have experienced a shock and lived to profit by the ordeal. 
A friend once related to us some of his experiences with 
members of the fox family which he delighted in chasing. The 
one of which we write simply became too wise for the hunter 
and the well-trained hounds comprising his valuable pack. 
Many are the times when he felt confident he would have him 
in the bag when the chase had ended, and each time he eluded 
his hounds as if by magic. At long last he observed that he 
would lose him in the same area each time. Finally, when 
dawn found them in hot pursuit of the fox, one member of 
the hunting party observed him playing about the rosin vat at 
a turpentine distillery, dusting his feet off with the powdered 
rosin about the vat. Now, almost everyone knows that this 
rosin is a deodorant, completely destroying the animal smell, 
which caused the chase to end at the turpentine plant. The 
fox seemed to enjoy the chase as well as the hounds, and would 
invoke this trick only when he had had enough of the chase 
and wished to elude the pack and have his day of sleep and rest. 
Old Bruin, in addition to enjoying the distinction of being 
the greatest playboy of the forest, is a skilled doctor as well. 
Most modern medical men would withhold their endorsement 
