Part 1

WOOD-FOLK COMEDIES

BOOKS BY WILLIAM J. LONG

WOOD-FOLK COMEDIES HOW ANIMALS TALK

HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK ESTABLISHED 1817

“Deer appear on the opposite shore, stepping daintily; the wild ducks glide out of their hiding place.”]

WOOD-FOLK COMEDIES

The Play of Wild-Animal Life on a Natural Stage

BY WILLIAM J. LONG

Author of “How Animals Talk” “Brier-Patch Philosophy” “School of the Woods” “Northern Trails” etc.

Illustrated

HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS NEW YORK AND LONDON

WOOD-FOLK COMEDIES

Copyright, 1920, by Harper & Brothers Printed in the United States of America Published October, 1920

I-U

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

I. PRELUDE: MORNING ON MOOSEHEAD 3

II. THE BIRDS’ TABLE 15

III. FOX COMEDY 32

IV. PLAYERS IN SABLE 44

V. WOLVES AND WOLF TALES 57

VI. EARS FOR HEARING 78

VII. HEALTH AND A DAY 90

VIII. NIGHT LIFE OF THE WILDERNESS 113

IX. STORIES FROM THE TRAIL 138

X. TWO ENDS OF A BEAR STORY 176

XI. WHEN BEAVER MEETS OTTER 184

XII. A NIGHT BEWITCHED 214