SQUIRRELS, FOXES, AND OTHERS 183 



" Oh, yes ; a rabbit." 



" And this one ? " 



" A fox," said I, doubtfully. 



" Yes, indeed. See the shape and size of 

 the foot. Yes, that 's a fox." 



"And this one?" 



" Oh, that 's a kitty." (A cat, he meant 

 to say.) " Strange how many cats are prowl- 

 ing about this country at night," he contin- 

 ued. " I have caught two this season, and 

 C has caught two." 



" Do you skin them ? " 



" Yes," with a laugh. 



Here were red-squirrel tracks, and here a 

 big dog's, and here again a fox's. At an- 

 other point a bevy of quail had crossed the 

 road. " One, two, three," my farmer began 

 to count. " Yes ; there were twelve." I 

 had remarked, just before, that I hadn't 

 seen a quail for I did n't know how long. 

 " And look here," he said, as we approached 

 the farm on our return. He led the way to 

 a diminutive chicken-coop sitting by itself in 

 the orchard. A single hen, which had been 

 ailing, was confined in it, he said. A fox 

 had gone round and round it in the night, 



