~ 1900-1901.] Recent Observations in Natural History. 211 
| that I might try my luck in catching a fox asleep. Waiting 
for a considerable time till I thought he might be indulging 
in an unconscious snooze, I started on my somewhat difficult 
enterprise. I had no intention of capturing him, but, prompted 
by curiosity, I was anxious to see if I could get near enough 
to do so if I desired. Approaching by a side wind in order 
_ to avoid going straight up the furrow in which he was lying, 
but taking care to keep sufficiently leeward to avoid him 
detecting my presence by scent, I stealthily approached him. 
Walking perfectly upright, I could see his back, the top of his 
head, and his ears distinctly, but his eyes were beneath the 
line of vision. If his eyes were closed I felt almost certain 
‘that I would get near him, though that I would get sufficiently 
near to catch him—had I wished to do so—was problematical. 
When within eighty yards, I observed that a couple of peweets 
would be a barrier to my success. They were not exactly in 
the way, but too near it to allow me to pass without taking 
wing. Halting for a while in the hope that the birds would 
move a little or become aware that they were not threatened 
with danger, I saw with chagrin that they had no intention of 
leaving, but, with their heads up, kept eyeing me in a most 
suspicious manner. Standing motionless, I could not help 
reflecting on the words of that great observer of nature. who 
‘wrote— 
“Thou green-crested lapwing, thy screaming forbear.” 
“Moving a step or two, the birds took wing, but, alas! they did 
not forbear to scream. ‘“ Peweet” seemed scarcely to have 
emanated from the throat of one of the birds, when in the 
twinkling of an eye reynard was galloping up the furrow at 
Tacecourse speed. I am certain that he never saw me, or he 
would not have been so scared. Deer, as is well known, are 
much more frightened when they scent than when they see 
the danger. Reynard understood by the scream of the birds that 
he was in proximity to an enemy. His mind must have been 
‘made up what to do when he lay down, as he took no time to 
look round or consider. To me the scream of the bird and 
the bound of the fox appeared to be simultaneous. 
I have—now many years ago—-seen a fox lying in a grass 
field. The late Earl of Wemyss’s pack had drawn all the 
