The Burgess Animal Book for Children | Page 2

Mole Shrew
and Marsh or Water Shrew.
XX FOUR BUSY LITTLE MINERS The Common Mole, Brewer's or
Hairy-tailed Mole, Oregon Mole and Star-nosed Mole.
XXI FLITTER THE BAT AND HIS FAMILY The Red Bat, Little
Brown or Cave Bat, Big Brown or House Bat, Silvery Bat, Hoary Bat
and Big-eared Bat.
XXII AN INDEPENDENT FAMILY The Common Skunk, Hog-nosed
or Badger Skunk and Little Spotted Skunk.
XXIII DIGGER AND HIS COUSIN GLUTTON The Badger and
Wolverine or Carcajou.
XXIV SHADOW AND HIS FAMILY The Common or Bonaparte
Weasel or Ermine, New York Weasel, Long-tailed or Yellow-bellied
Weasel, Least Weasel and Black-footed Ferret.
XXV TWO FAMOUS SWIMMERS Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter.

XXVI SPITE THE MARTEN AND PEKAN THE FISHER The Pine
Marten or American Sable and the Fisher or Pennant Marten.
XXVII REDDY FOX JOINS THE SCHOOL The Red, Black and
Silver Foxes, Gray Fox, Kit Fox Or Swift, Desert Fox, Arctic and Blue
Foxes.
XXVIII OLD MAN COYOTE AND HOWLER THE WOLF The
Prairie Wolf or Coyote and the Timber or Gray Wolf.
XXIX YOWLER AND HIS COUSIN TUFTY The Bay Lynx or Bob
Cat and the Canada Lynx or Lucivee.
XXX SOME BIG AND LITTLE CAT COUSINS Puma the Panther,
also called Cougar and Mountain Lion, The Jaguar, the Ocelot, and the
Jaguarundi Cat or Eyra.
XXXI BOBBY COON ARRIVES The Raccoon and the Civet or
Ring-tailed Cat, also Called Coon Cat and Bassaris.
XXXII BUSTER BEAR NEARLY BREAKS UP SCHOOL The Black
Bear and his habits.
XXXIII BUSTER BEAR'S BIG COUSINS Silvertip, the Grizzly Bear,
the Alaska or Great Brown Bear and the Polar Bear.
XXXIV UNC' BILLY AND OLD MRS. POSSUM The Virginia
Opossum, which is the only American Marsupial.
XXXV LIGHTFOOT, BLACKTAIL AND FORKHORN The
White-tailed or Virginia Deer, Black-tailed Deer And Mule Deer.
XXXVI BUGLER, FLATHORNS AND WANDERHOOF The Elk or
Wapiti, Moose or Caribou.
XXXVII THUNDERFOOT, FLEETFOOT AND LONGCOAT The
Buffalo or Bison, Antelope or Musk-Ox.
XXXVIII TWO WONDERFUL MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS The Rocky

Mountain Sheep or Bighorn and the Rocky Mountain Goat.
XXXIX PIGGY AND HARDSHELL The Peccary or Wild Pig and the
Armadillo.
XL THE MAMMALS OF THE SEA The Sea Otter, Walrus, Sea Lions,
Seals and Manatee Or Sea Cow.

THE BURGESS ANIMAL BOOK FOR CHILDREN
CHAPTER I
Jenny Wren Gives Peter Rabbit an Idea
"As sure as you're alive now, Peter Rabbit, some day I will catch you,"
snarled Reddy Fox, as he poked his black nose in the hole between the
roots of the Big Hickory-tree which grows close to the Smiling Pool.
"It is lucky for you that you were not one jump farther away from this
hole."
Peter, safe inside that hole, didn't have a word to say, or, if he did, he
didn't have breath enough to say it. It was quite true that if he had been
one jump farther from that hole, Reddy Fox would have caught him. As
it was, the hairs on Peter's funny white tail actually had tickled Reddy's
back as Peter plunged frantically through the root-bound entrance to
that hole. It had been the narrowest escape Peter had had for a long,
long time. You see, Reddy Fox had surprised Peter nibbling sweet
clover on the bank of the Smiling Pond, and it had been a lucky thing
for Peter that that hole, dug long ago by Johnny Chuck's grandfather,
had been right where it was. Also, it was a lucky thing that old Mr.
Chuck had been wise enough to make the entrance between the roots of
that tree in such a way that it could not be dug any larger.
Reddy Fox was too shrewd to waste any time trying to dig it larger. He
knew there wasn't room enough for him to get between those roots. So,
after trying to make Peter as uncomfortable as possible by telling him

what he, Reddy, would do to him when he did catch him, Reddy trotted
off across the Green Meadows. Peter remained where he was for a long
time. When he was quite sure that it was safe to do so, he crept out and
hurried, lipperty-lipperty-lip, up to the Old Orchard. He felt that that
would be the safest place for him, because there were ever so many
hiding places in the old stone wall along the edge of it.
When Peter reached the Old Orchard, who should he see but Jenny
Wren. Jenny had arrived that very morning from the Sunny South
where she had spent the winter. "Tut, tut, tut, tut, tut!" exclaimed Jenny
as soon as she saw Peter. "If here isn't Peter Rabbit himself! How did
you manage to keep out of the clutches of Reddy Fox all the long
winter?"
Peter chuckled. "I didn't have much trouble with Reddy during the
winter," said he,