151
NOTES—ORIGINAL AND SELECTED.
Remarkable Tale of a Fox.—The county newspapers of Dec. 8th, 1893,
printed the following:—"Three remarkable robberies have taken place at
Tillingham. During a recent Sunday night Mr. Joseph English, butcher, lost a
brown blanket from off his cart, which was standing in a shed on his premises.
During the following Friday night he lost a blanket and a whip, and on the
Monday night he lost a blanket, a whip, and a nosebag—all from the same place.
On the Tuesday morning he gave information to P.C. Collins, of Tillingham, who
subsequently ascertained that the blanket, whip, and nosebag, which were lost on
Monday night, had been picked up by Mr. Thomas Peacocke, of Tillingham,
baker, who found them scattered about in his meadow early on Tuesday morning.
He then searched the hedge and ditch which divide Mr. English's premises from
Mr. Peacocke's meadow, and near a hole in the hedge, where dogs are in the habit
of going through, he found the whip which was lost during Friday night, but was
still unable to gain any trace of the thief. In company with P.C. Taylor, of
Bradwell-on-Sea, Collins continued making inquiries throughout the day, but
obtained no clue to the thief. On returning home in the evening P.C. Collins
again examined the blanket and nosebag, when he noticed in them a strong scent
of a fox, which at once caused him to suspect that Master Reynard had committed
this robbery. He then called the attention of Mr. English and several others to
it, and they all expressed themselves perfectly satisfied that the scent was that of
a fox. Again during Tuesday night (29th November) Mr. English was paid
another visit by something, which dragged a sack containing about a peck of oats
out of his shed, down his garden, and left it in the direction where the other
articles were found. On Wednesday night, shortly after twelve o'clock, P C.
Collins was watching on Mr. English's premises, when he saw a fox come into his
yard. It had a good look round, and a smell round the slaughter-house, and then
it went into the cartshed, jumped up into the cart, and again had another look
round. Finding nothing there, it came out and pulled a large empty sack from
off the chaff-cutting machine and dragged it out of the yard into Mr. English's
garden, where he dropped it and ran off. This was quite sufficient to satisfy
everybody that the thief is a four-legged one. This fox appears to think that he
wants a whip for the hounds, as well as the huntsman."
The Cry of the Wood-Pigeon.—A contributor to "Notes and Queries"
(8th S., vi.| 252) gives an interesting contribution referring to the well known idea
that the cry of the bird includes the words "Take two cows, Taffy." He writes
under the signature J. B. B. as follows :
" I have heard birds in the same wood leave off at all parts of this cry. A
curious thing connected with it is this, that the bird invariably begins where it
left off. For instance, if it simply cries 'Take,' it will begin next time at 'two
cows, Taffy,' I have heard this over and over again."
Have any of our Essex readers noticed the peculiarities of the wood-pigeon's
cry ?—J. C. Gould, Loughton.
A travelling Sparrow's Nest.—"A sparrow's nest, containing five eggs,
was the other day discovered between the Westinghouse brake of one of the
London, Tilbury, and Southend Railway Company's carriages and the bottom of
the carriage. The nest was not disturbed, and the eggs have now been hatched,