CLASS MAMMALIA. 51 



single species only of Marten, and that the one whose name 

 appears above. 



Family CANID^. 

 Genus CAN is, Linn. 



Canis vulpes, Linn. COMMON Fox. 



It is quite unnecessary to give any specific account of this 

 fortunately-common member of our Fauna, which is familiar 

 to almost everyone. 



I say " fortunately-common," and long may it remain so ; 

 for the sport of which it is the object does great good in bring- 

 ing all classes together, encourages the breeding of horses, 

 trains our young men as fearless riders, and does not make its 

 votaries selfish and suspicious, as is the case with shooting, 

 fishing, and most other sports. So far as I know, the pursuit 

 of the Fox and its preservation are the causes of no serious 

 damage to anything except to a little poultry and game. The 

 advantages, on the contrary, are so manifest that we must be 

 content to lose these in exchange. So long as there are woods 

 in the country and the present condition of agriculture gives 

 no reason to suppose they will be destroyed so long will 

 there be Foxes, unless the game preserver takes to using 

 poison, and so effectually destroys the sport of the many for 

 the sake of a day or two's grand battue during the season for 

 a few. This I hope we may never see. 



A drawing of a Fox's Earth one of the many to be 

 found in Epping Forest from the brush of Mr. H. A. Cole, 

 faces this page. 



The cunning of the Fox is proverbial. Daniel, in his 

 Rural Sports (1812, vol. L, p. 273) relates one or two instances 

 observed in this country of its extraordinary sagacity, and of 

 its tenderness for its young. Thus, one was observed to drop 

 a cub from its mouth, after it had been hotly pursued for 

 many miles in the neighbourhood of Chelmsford. 



