FOXES OF THE HILLS 181 



it is only when grouse form an important part 

 of the game that vermin-killing for the sake of 

 sport becomes imperative. But there are few parts 

 even of the deer forest area which are far removed 

 from sheep ground, and the sheep farmer demands 

 a rigorous persecution of foxes as a service to which 

 he is entitled. Where rabbits abound they form the 

 staple article in the diet of the fox, but there is no 

 doubt whatever that Reynard is a most persistent 

 lamb -killer, and that if foxes are abundant they 

 levy a heavy tax on the flocks. From this arise 

 sharp differences of opinion as to compensation, 

 and general charges of failure of duty on the part 

 of the landlord to his tenants. But there is little 

 fear of the native race of foxes being extirpated. 

 Their number, as has been said, is greater than is 

 generally supposed ; and in the boulder -strewn 

 glens and hillsides their hiding-places are number- 

 less, and will never be obliterated. 



