DOGS 35 



them in a pile of faggots, or another " earth." They 

 remain with her until about September^ but are not 

 full-grown until they are eighteen or twenty months 

 old. The food of foxes consists of mice, rats, rabbits, 

 hares, pheasants, partridges, poultry, and young 

 birds, also fruits and berries, and we all know about 

 the fox^s fondness for grapes. 



He is a wholesale slaughterer, killing when he 

 gets the chance far more than he can possibly eat. 

 Mr. Millais records an instance of the rapacity of a 

 vixen who, at Leonardslee, in the month of May, 

 jumped a 7 ft. wire fence and then scaled a 9 ft. 

 fence within that, which was supposed to protect 

 some captive pheasants. In a single night the 

 robber slew fifty-one full-grown birds, and next 

 morning the cubs were found sitting outside awaiting 

 the delights of their mother's game-bag. But in 

 spite of these troublesome wa^^s the fox does good 

 service in ridding us of vast numbers of rats and 

 mice and keeping down the number of rabbits. 



Such as the fox is now, so it has existed in 

 England for thousands of years. Its bones are 

 found fossil in the Red Crag of Pliocene times, and 

 again, its remains are preserved abundantly in the 

 brick earths of the Thames Valley, and more recently 

 in the peat formations, and thus it is connected with 

 historic times. 



The fox is very widely distributed both in Europe 

 and Asia. The silver fox, so much valued for its 

 beautiful pelage, is found in North America. The 

 Arctic fox, specimens of which may be seen at the 

 Zoo, is bluish in colour in summer and white in 



