82 FOX-HUNTING 



was and his coat was covered with hoar frost, 

 showing that he must have finished his supper 

 and gone to bed some hours before sunrise. 



Foxes will lie out in the open when the coverts, 

 where they usually live, are disturbed too often. 

 I have said already artificial coverts should not 

 be drawn oftener than every three weeks. Out- 

 lying foxes are a great nuisance, as they generally 

 get up just when the hounds are becoming tired, 

 and cause a change at a critical moment. They 

 are never, or hardly ever, to be found when 

 wanted, and they usually do more damage to 

 the poultry. Mange often causes them to lie 

 out, or they may have been driven away from 

 the covert where they were bred by other 

 foxes, for it is a quarrelsome animal, and it is 

 not often you will find a brace of dogs over 

 three years old lying close together. There are 

 many other reasons which cause them to lie out, 

 and which we know nothing about. The covert 

 which we think is sacred between one visit of 

 hounds and the next is very probably drawn 

 two or three times a week by terriers and sheep- 

 dogs. 



In making an artificial covert, that is a place 



