THE AMERICAN FOX. 335 
as possible to the ground. Presently the hounds came along in full ery, and with a 
blazing scent, darting over the hill in hot pursuit, and never stopping until they reached 
the bottom of the hill, As soon as the last hound had passed, the Fox resumed his legs, 
crept quietly over the brow of the hill, and returned to his covert at Icisure. 
Another of these creatures made use of a very cunning device for the same purpose. 
In this instance, he always led his pursuers to the edge of a cliff that rose perpendicularly 
for several hundred feet, and then disappeared. The hunters had often examined the spot, 
and unsuccessfully, for it seemed that no wingless animal could venture to take such a 
fearful leap. The secret was, however, at last discovered by a concealed spy. The crafty 
Fox was seen coming quite at his leisure to the edge of the cliff, and then to look down. 
Some ten feet below the edge there was a kind of break in the strata of stone, forming a 
kind of step about a foot in width. By means of his claws the Fox let himself down upon 
this step, and then disappeared in a hollow which was invisible from above. 
A man was lowered by ropes to the spot, and found that there was a wide fissure in 
the rock, to which the stony step formed an entrance. On searching the cavern it was 
found to have another and an easy outlet upon the level ground above. The Fox, 
AMERICAN FOX.—Vulpes fulvus. 
however, never used this entrance when the hounds were on his trail, but cut off the 
scent by scrambling over the cliff, and then emerged at the other outlet without danger of 
discovery. 
Mr. C. W. Webber narrates an equally curious instance of the cunning of a Fox in 
escaping from his pursuers. 
“ There was a certain briary old field of great extent, near the middle of which we 
could, on any morning of the year, start a erey Fox. After a chase of an hour or so, just 
enough to blow the dogs and horses well, we invariably lost the Fox at the same spot, the 
fence-corner of a large plantation, which opened into a heavy forest on one side of this 
old field. The frequency and certainty of this event became the standing joke of the 
country. Fox-hunters from other neighbourhoods would bring their pack for miles, to 
have a run out of this mysterious Fox, in the hope of clearing up the mystery. But no. 
They were all baffled alike. We often examined the eround critically, to find out, if 
possible, t the mode of ese ape, but could discover nothing that in any way accounted for 
it, or suggested any theory in regard to it. That it did not fly was very sure ; that it must 
escape along the fence in some w ay was equally so, My first idea was, that the animal, 
as is very common, had climbed upon the top rail of the fence, and walked along it to 
such a distance, before leaping off, that the dogs were entirely thrown out. I accordingly 
