TO OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



It was not to be wondered at that I should have 

 supposed this scent, so like that of a fox, to have 

 been due to the presence of one of those animals. 

 I noticed that it was almost always apparent in 

 some two or three places. Happening to mention 

 the circumstance to an acquaintance, he informed 

 me that he had heard that there was a plant, 

 common in the district, bearing a scent very 

 similar to a fox. I was subsequently able to 

 satisfy myself that I had been mistaken in sup- 

 posing that it proceeded from the latter, and so 

 concluded that it must have been the plant re- 

 ferred to ; but what description of plant it may 

 be I have, I regret to say, not had further oppor- 

 tunity of ascertaining, as the gorse- covert has 

 since been doomed to destruction by the person 

 from whom I rented it, much to my own 

 regret, and, I may doubtless add, to that of the 

 foxes. 



Our neighbourhood is somewhat overstocked 

 with foxes ; the wildness of the country is pecu- 

 liarly suitable for them. The many gorse-coverts 

 which stud the downlands afford warm lying, 

 and the abundance of rabbits enables them to 

 keep the larder well supplied without any very 

 great exertion. The woodlands are heavy, and 

 the country generally none too good scenting, 

 and so they increase and multiply considerably, 

 despite the number killed annually by the hounds ; 

 but, as may be inferred, it is no easy matter to 

 account for a fox under such conditions, and 



