132 MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS. 



around them (my position was always «te- the windwtt^»4- 

 4i^, or they would immediately have detected my pre- 

 sence among them) ; after running in and out for a few 

 minutes, and looking round in all directions, they com- 

 menced play, by jumping about like kittens, rolling on 

 the ground and pulling each other about, playing hide 

 and seek behind the bushes, and performing all kinds of 

 antics. In an instant, if alarmed, they would rush to 

 the earth again, from which, in a few minutes, they 

 would cautiously emerge, and sit up to listen. If all 

 was still, they then proceeded a short distance to watch 

 for black beetles, which commence their flight in the 

 evening. Upon hearing the buzzing sound they make 

 when striking the ground, their attention was instantly 

 directed to the spot where the beetle fell, and a scramble 

 ensued for the dainty morsel. Many fell to their share 

 during the evening. Mouse hunting also seemed a fa- 

 vourite amusement. It is astonishing the quantity of 

 beetles and mice which are devoured by young foxes. 

 They are the only game almost they have the power of 

 catching^ until the month of August — the larder, of 

 course, being supplied during their infancy by their 

 mother. Now, it may scarcely be credited that the place 

 where these cubs were bred (and there was a litter there 

 for many seasons following) was our chief preserve, and 

 abounded in game — rabbits swarmed — yet I never saw a 

 rabbit or any head of game killed by them during all 

 the seasons they were bred there. The earth was in a 

 brake, just opposite a large covert, and in the dell be- 

 tween, a grass field, which in the evening was nearly 

 covered with rabbits. The young foxes would often go 

 down, and skirmish with them round the bushes, but 



