MORE ANIMAL FRIENDSHIPS.
One of the commoner friendships between animals of very different species appears to exist between dog or cat and the crow family. I have known of several, and many have been reported. One does not like to belittle motives or libel sentiment ; but it has been alleged that dogs and eats have a definite distaste for the flesh of the crow family, and that this objection, on the negative side at any rate, is a contributory cause to the friendship, for a constant temptation to devour your friend must be at least disturbing. A tame rook or jackdaw, according to one correspondent who has kept such pets continuously, is perfectly safe even from marauding cats. They do not even glance in his direction. It may be so. A spaniel or retriever will often utterly refuse to pick up a shot crow or rook, though they will eagerly retrieve such birds as moorhen. Of all the stories of animal friendships that have reached me, the oddest concerns a retriever and hen. The hen—much the handsomest in the yard—was the only bird that was allowed by the dog to feed out of his bowl ; and it is alleged that by way of reward the beautiful hen would now and again lay her egg in the mouth of the kennel, to the delight of the retriever, whose one repre- hensible weakness was a taste for hens' eggs I A curious association is recorded from the neighbourhood of Newport where a large white cat was watched—not once but many times—playing with a litter of fox cubs, while the vixen looked on unperturbed.
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