76 THE FOX 



day, and they go to roost before he comes out, so that 

 the fox and the pheasant are not often brought into 

 contact. Nevertheless foxes do catch some pheasants. 

 But the greatest amount of mischief is in the nesting 

 season. Pheasants lay about the end of March or 

 beginning of April, so that the birds are sitting and 

 the broods are hatching out just at the time when the 

 fox's necessity is greatest. Sitting birds are dry and 

 flavourless, and probably these are not looked for 

 unless the need is severe. But no doubt when the 

 young birds are hatched out the smell of the dis- 

 carded egg-shells often betrays them to the fox. 

 Against this we may fairly place as part consideration 

 the useful work done by the fox in keeping down 

 more destructive vermin. Foxes hunt eagerly for 

 and kill stoats, weasels, and the old hedgerow rat in 

 whose burrow has been discovered no fewer than 

 fourteen wild ducks' eggs. Rats are pests to which 

 nothing is sacred, nothing comes amiss, and the fox 

 is a most accomplished rat-catcher. But even if we 

 allow that a fox does more harm than good and kills 

 more than he saves, the damage is not so great as to 

 make it worth while for a good sportsman to spoil 

 his neighbour's fun. At the same time hunting 

 men ought not to forget that the pheasant-preserver 

 who keeps wild foxes does no doubt make a very. 



