104 THE HUNTING FIELD 



state." Daniel makes him quite a respectable cha- 

 racter, a housekeeper in fact, with a back and front 

 door to his residence, though we cannot say we ever 

 saw an earth with such accommodation. In running 

 to ground where rabbits abound, it is not uncommon 

 for reynard to bolt out of one hole while the fox- 

 hunting "navies" are busy at another, but those 

 holes are made by the " bunnies," not by the foxes ; 

 reynard is there only a lodger. Speaking of his 

 domestic habits, Daniel says further, "The idea of 

 a settled place of abode indicates a singular attention 

 to self; the choice of a situation and of rendering 

 that abode commodious, and of concealing the avenues 

 to it, imply a superior degree of sentiment ; the fox 

 is endowed with this quality, and manages it with 

 advantage ; he prefers the covers near dwellings, where 

 he listens to the cries of the poultry ; in his attacks 

 upon them he chooses the time with judgment, and 

 concealing his road, slips forward with caution, and 

 seldom makes a fruitless expedition." Daniel had 

 not been much of a fox-man, we think, or else the 

 animal must have changed its habits a good deal 

 since his book was written. We have often seen 

 foxes found in covers in the neighbourhood of farm- 

 houses, but we do not remember at this moment 

 ever seeing an earth at all that would be called close 

 to farm buildings. Daniel's book, however, was 

 written forty years ago, since when foxhunting has 

 undergone considerable change, particularly the lodg- 

 ing — we might almost say the domestication of foxes. 

 We have now all sorts of artificial contrivances, from 

 the fagot cover down to Mr. Smith's masonic drain. 

 In Daniel's time, indeed, it seems to have been a 

 " moot " point whether foxes were entitled to protection 

 or not, just as we have heard people contend for the 

 right to shoot persons who have the luck to be out- 

 lawed. Daniel says, " The destruction and preserva- 

 tion of foxes are points upon which there is a differ- 



