THE FOX FAMILY 



CHAPTER I 



IT was the immortal Jorrocks who said, "Oh, 

 how that beautiful word Fox gladdens my 

 'eart, and warms the declinin' embers of 

 my age." 



The words of the sporting grocer do but echo 

 the thoughts of many a keen hunting man to-day, 

 and though it is perhaps too much to expect every 

 one to share the same feeling with regard to the 

 little red rover of the hunting field, there are few 

 who do not show some interest at mention of 

 Reynard, the hero of song, folk-tales, and fable. 



Because our own red rascal has taken all the 

 glory and fame to himself, other foxes, his re- 

 lations are apt to be forgotten. There are 

 others, and though the following chapters deal 

 chiefly with canis vulpes, the red rover of sports- 

 men, the foxes of foreign countries will be lightly 

 touched on. 



The foxes belong to the family Canidae, the 

 majority of them being varieties of our British 

 fox. Whilst the interest attached to our own 

 red rover is chiefly centred in his sport-showing 

 qualities, certain of his relations abroad are 

 more famed for their commercial value. 



The fox is an inhabitant of North America, 

 Europe, Asia, and Africa, but for some reason is 

 absent from South America. The colour of the 

 North American red fox varies from red to black, 

 exhibiting four more or less distinct phases, 



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