A fierce battle between a fox and a swan took place at Sherborne Park. Master Reynard seems to have caught the old swan napping, and to have seized him by the throat. The bird defended himself with his wings so powerfully that its assailant was done to death in no time, and a workman going past the lake above the bridge next morning found both fox and swan lying dead together. The bird had received a fatal bite in the throat; the fox had one leg broken and the side of its head completely broken in. The swan was the oldest bird on the lake. [Illustration] [Illustration] [Illustration: THE SAND LIZARD. THE CROCODILE. THE VIPER. THE ASP.] [Illustration: THE WILD BOAR. THE BADGER. THE FERRET. THE LYNX.] TOUSY. We have a beautiful long-haired little dog called Tousy, which lately had a pup. This queer little bantling was jumping and tumbling about the green one day, when a lady entered followed by a dog. Tousy made a ferocious assault on the four-footed stranger, by way of defending her young, and our magnificent white cat, which was sitting on the doorstep, seeing or supposing that his friend Tousy was in danger, made two immense bounds, and alighted on the back of the intruder, whose eyes would have been scratched out but for prompt rescue. The mutual affection of these two animals is unbounded, and yet we hear human disagreements compared to cat-and-dog life! These animals, and many others, are capable of the most devoted affection to their young, and to their mates, and frequently teach us lessons of kindness to one another. [Illustration] [Illustration: THE NEST IN THE APPLE TREE.] End of Project Gutenberg's Chatterbox Stories of Natural History, by Anonymous