THE BRITISH MAMMALS : THEIR GENERA AND SPECIES. 75 



pointed, the ears large and erect, and the eyes, which have elliptical 

 pupils, are singularly bright and intelligent. There are forty- 

 two teeth, consisting of three incisors (i), a canine (c), and four 

 premolars (p.m), in each jaw, and two molars in the upper jaw, 

 and three in the lower. The upper carnassial is the fourth 

 premolar, and it has two lobes to the outer blade ; the lower 

 carnassial is the first molar (m), and it has a broad heel at the 

 hinder end, and a small cusp on the inner side. The upper molars 

 are triangular ; of the lower molars the third is very small, and has 

 a roundish crown and but one root. In short, the teeth are those of 

 a dog, and the tongue is smooth like a dog's, the noteworthy differ- 

 ences in the skull being the slightly upward curve of the postorbital 

 process of the frontal, the concavity of its upper surface, and the 

 absence of a frontal sinus. And, like a dog, the fox will eat almost 



Fox. 

 (Vulpes vulgaris.) 



anything animal from a lamb to an insect or the molluscs and crus- 

 taceans on the seashore, besides a good many vegetable things, 

 including, of course, the proverbial grapes when it can get them. 

 Unlike the dogs, the female, or " vixen " as she is called, has but six 

 teats. The fox stands about fourteen inches at the withers, and aver- 

 ages over three feet over all, including the " brush " or tail, which is a 

 third as long as the head and body together. It lives as a rule in pairs, 

 not ajvvays in a burrow, but when it does the " earth " consists of a 

 central den with more than one exit, the slope of which is down- 

 wards and upwards. The prey, mainly rabbits and mice, is hunted 

 by night, but foxes have been frequently noticed sunning themselves 

 in the day-time. The young, or " cubs," from four to six in number, 

 begin to hunt with their mother when three months old; when about 

 half that age they play about in front of the burrow, barking in a 

 small way for food. The Fox can not only run long distances, but 

 can swim and climb, and is notorious for his general resourceful- 

 ness ; but even this would not have saved him being driven to the 

 farthest north like the wild cat, or wiped Off the British list alto- 

 gether, had it not been for the sport he affords, which means so many 



