THE FOX. 103 



the fox or take any more notice of him than 

 they do of the hare. They are accustomed to 

 seeing him, and he never runs after them nor 

 does he bark at them in that rude manner 

 which they so dishke in the dog. When his 

 cubs are of an age to requhe lamb he gets the 

 wind of one sleeping at night beside its dam, 

 creeps to within springing distance and leaps 

 upon it. The mother flies into the darkness 

 from she knows not what, calling to the lamb 

 to follow, but beyond one pitiful cry it makes 

 no answer, and it never follows her again. 



It is these sheep calling for their lambs at 

 night that warn the shepherds that the fox is 

 on their hill. Should the lamb be heavier than 

 the fox likes, or for some other reason difficult 

 to explain, he will eat a little bit out of it and 

 leave it and catch another. It is quite common 

 to find two or three lambs so left on the hill in 

 the morning — a pleasant sight for the farmer ! 

 We heard it calculated last summer that one 

 pair of foxes had in that one season done 80/. 



