MR. RED FOX MEETS MR. GRAY FOX
It is fun when Mr. Red Fox and Mr. Gray Fox meet on the knoll, but the Swamp will never have such a frolic as it had one night when a strange bird came flying in over the door. It is known that the birds that sleep while the Swamp is awake have been taught to hide their heads under their wings. It is not intended that they should see what is going on. Even the Buzzard, that sleeps in the loblolly pine, and the wild turkey, that sleeps in the live oak, conform to this custom. They are only on the edge of the Swamp, but they feel that it would be rude not to put their heads under their wings while the Swamp is awake. But this strange bird—of a family of night birds not hitherto known to that region—was amazed when he beheld the spectacle.
"Oho!" he cried; "what queer country is this, where all the birds are headless? If I'm to live here in peace, I must do as the brethren do."
So he went off in search of advice. As he went along he saw the Bull-Frog near the lagoon.
"Queerer still," exclaimed the stranger. "Here is a bird that has no head, and he can sing."
This satisfied him, and he went farther until he saw Mr. Wildcat trying to catch little Mr. Flying-Squirrel.
"Good-evening, sir," said the stranger. "I see that the birds in this country have no heads."
Mr. Wildcat smiled and bowed and licked his mouth.
"I presume, sir, that I ought to get rid of my head if I am to stay here, and I have nowhere else to go. How am I to do it?"