Zoological Myths

From The Birmingham Age-Herald, February 1, 1913.
 

 Certain creatures oft heard of, pray who ever saw?
 There’s the camel whose back broke beneath the last straw.
 There’s the wonderful goose that laid eggs of pure gold,
 And the bull that got in where the china was sold.
 There’s the ass that the skin of a lion doth wear,
 And the wrong pig we frequently get by the ear.
 The wild horses that never, no never could drag
 Us somewhere—there’s the cat we let out of the bag.
 There’s the bird that goes whispering secrets around,
 Whoever has seen it, whoever has found?
 There’s the oft-mentioned dog in the manger that stands,
 And the elephant someone has got on his hands.
 There’s the ravenous wolf from our doors that we keep,
 And the wolf that goes round in the clothing of sheep.
 There’s the nightmare that somebody tells us they’ve had.
 There’s the cat with nine lives and the March hare that’s mad.
 And the fox that declared that the high grapes were sour,
 And the grim dogs of war—it would take quite an hour
 Just to list all the odd, freakish creatures that we
 Nearly every day hear of, but never once see.