496 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



plainly. Others have related to him similar experiences. 

 One saw a fox eating a grouse. 



Mr. George E. TVhitehead of Millbtfry, Worcester County, 

 says : * ' Every observing hunter or trapper can tell you the 

 story of the fox's attempt to ambush a partridge, as told by 

 the tracks on the snow. One can plainly see how the fox 

 took advantage of every bit of natural cover, while he 

 sneaked to where he made his spring. The fact that a few 

 feathers are left shows that he met with success." 



Mr. Otis Thayer of AVest Quincy, Norfolk County, saj r s 

 that after the Blue Hills Reservation was closed to hunters, 

 game increased very rapidly, for foxes were scarce ; but as 

 the foxes increased, game decreased. Formerly, he says, 

 this region was good hunting ground ; now he finds no 

 game, but always finds foxes. They are now so plentiful 

 that they are becoming destructive to poultry as the game 

 decreases. 



Mr. "W. H. Aspinwall, secretary of the Massachusetts 

 Rod and Gun Club, writes as follows: "During the last 

 few years I have twice, if I remember aright, found the 

 place where a fox had very recently killed a partridge and 

 eaten him. It was so recent an act that my setter pointed 

 at the place, and I went up and found the remains of the 

 partridge, and foxes' tracks all around. The only fox that I 

 ever shot I ran on quite unexpectedly while working up a 

 bevy of quail. It was a young dog fox, and he was on the 

 same errand that I was, for the quail flushed when I killed 

 the fox. I have made a great many inquiries among the 

 native hunters in our country districts, and they all believe 

 that foxes and skunks, especially in the breeding season, 

 are very destructive to our game birds. I have been told 

 by a number that in digging out foxes that have holed they 

 have found the remains of partridges, and even of the 

 smaller birds, such as robins, etc. Only last week a friend 

 of mine who is an extremely good observer and sportsman 

 told me that he found the remains of a robin which a fox 

 had just killed. I believe that the chief difficulty is in the 

 breeding season, when it is quite easy for foxes to catch the 

 hen bird on a nest. I think that most people agree that, as 



