rOX-HUNTIKG.] 



THE DOG, AND ITS YAEIETIES; 



[the TALBOT. 



"When a bitch has small cubs, aud she be- 

 comes aware that her nest is discovered, she 

 takes them up one by one in her mouth, as a 

 cat does her kittens, and removes them to a 

 more secure place. The bark of the fox is 

 most frequently heard in January and Feb- 

 ruary ; some individuals bark precisely like a 

 terrier giving mouth at game. The food of 

 this animal consists principally of beetles, rep- 

 tiles, small birds, and rabbits ; he will also take 

 partridges, pheasants, fowls, ducks, geese, and 

 even swans. A person who had spent much 

 time in the woods, once told us that, perceiving 

 a fox near a covert side, he stole very cautiously 

 up to him, and found that he was playing with 

 a field-mouse which he had just caught. The 

 same person, once hearing a very unusual noise 

 in the woods, went to ascertain the cause, when 

 he found it to proceed from two foxes, who 

 were quarrelling over a pheasant. One of the 

 animals had captured a prize, of which it was 

 evident the other intended to rob him. 



"We could fill a large amount of space with 

 anecdotes of the ditferent traits of character 

 exhibited by the fox ; but a few must suffice. 



A Berkshire gentleman had winged a phea- 

 sant, of which his spaniels went in pursuit: 

 he saw it running on the ground ; but the 

 pheasant had not gone far before a fine fox 

 caught and ran off with it in his mouth across 

 the open field, and, although the sportsman 

 rated him hard, aud the spaniels followed in 

 pursuit, the thief got clear ofi" with his prize. 

 A similar event again occurred in the same 

 copse, and the fox mentioned was undoubtedly 

 the same animal whose audacity was exhibited 

 on the previous occasion. It was evident that 

 the animal was quickly on the alert whenever 

 he heard the report of a gun in the covert, which 

 he frequented, for a long time, unmolested. 



In 1849, the Hull Packet contained an 

 account of a singular occurrence which took 

 place at Owthorne, near Patrington, in Holder- 

 ness. "A fine male fox made his appearance 

 amongst a ilock of lambs belonging to a 

 widow of that place, and became so much 

 attached to one of the lambs that he could not 

 be driven away. The most extraordinary part 

 of the aflair was, that the lamb also declined to 

 ^e parted from its strange companion, and the 

 pair were seen daily, seldom very far from each 

 Other." 



422 



Mr. Charles S. Oraves relates the following 

 anecdote : — " A curious circumstance occurred 

 at Ingleby many years ago. The hounds were 

 beating the wood opposite the house, when 

 ray grandmother heard a great sioem'tng 

 amongst her cats in the entrance-hall, and, 

 on ffoius: to see what was the matter, found a 

 fox seated in the hall ; on seeing her he ran 

 along the hall, and down the steps into the 

 cellar, and took his place behind the beer-barrel, 

 where he was secured. No hounds had been 

 anywhere near the house, nor had he been run 

 at all." Foxes are particularly fond of cheese ; 

 and fish have been found near their "earths." 



Having ventured to digress thus far from 

 our subject, we will return to another descrip- 

 tion of our hounds. 



Formerly two noble varieties of the hound 

 were common in England, which are now 

 seldom seen. "We allude to the old English 

 hound and the bloodhound. 



Of the old English hound, which is described 

 by Whittaker, iu his History of Manchester, 

 as the original breed of our island, some years 

 since, there was to be seen a fiae specimen in 

 Lancashire. It was tall and robust, with a 

 chest of extraordinary depth and breadth, with 

 pendulous lips, and deeply set eyes ; the ears 

 were large and long, and hung very low ; tlie 

 nose was broad, and the nostrils large and 

 moist. The voice was deep, full, aud sonorous. 

 The general colour was black, passing into tan, 

 or sandy red, about the muzzle and along the 

 inside of the limbs. Shakespeare's description 

 of the hounds of Theseus, in the Midsummer 

 NigMs Dream, is true to the letter as referring 

 to this breed, with which he was, no doubt, 

 well acquainted : — 



" My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind, 

 So flew'd, so sanded ; and their heads are hung 

 With ears that sweep away the morning dew ; 

 Crook-knee'd and dew-lapped like Thessalian bulls ; 

 Slow in pursuit, but match'd in mouth like bells, 

 Each under each." 



THE TALBOT. 



Besides the old English, or Southern hound, 

 was the old English stag-hound, or Talbot, 

 a powerful dog, but of lighter form, and more 

 fleet than the former. From this breed has 

 descended the still lighter and swifter fox- 

 hound of the present day. The Talbot was 



