DOGS 33 



folk songs. In spite of Reynard^s depredations in 

 the hen-roost and his slaughter of young partridges, 

 pheasants, and grouse, so forcible is the unwritten 

 law of custom that there are but few persons, if 

 any, in England or Ireland, even if they never 

 hunted themselves, who would not look upon shooting 

 or trapping a fox as an unpardonable crime. In 

 Scotland the case is different ; the nature of a 

 greater part of the country being unsuitable to the 

 sport of fox hunting, Master Reynard is regarded as 

 vermin in deer forests, and trapped or hunted with 

 terriers. The fox being an unprotected animal in 

 Scotland, and having to struggle for his own 

 existence, is consequently a bigger and stronger 

 fellow than the fox of the south. 



An understanding between the fox hunters and 

 the game preservers protects the fox from the game- 

 keeper, a good price being paid for a fox if he is 

 delivered over to the hunt alive. To appease the 

 owners of robbed hen-roosts a fixed price per bird is 

 paid. But it is difficult to assess these damages 

 correctly, and of the extortion that frequently occurs 

 Miss Spmerville writes : 



" P is the price of the aged old hin 

 That's ate by the fox over 'n' over ag'in." 



The pelage or fur of the fox is reddish-brown on 

 the back and white underneath, the muzzle and the 

 backs of the ears black, the tail is reddish, and ends 

 in a brush of long black hairs, tipped here and there 

 with white ; the feet and legs to the first joints are 

 black in front. The whiskers, which are sensitive 

 like the cat^s, are black. It is interesting also to 



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