388 SYSTEM OF KENNEL AND 



coverts in whicli the earths had been stopped at 

 night — perceiving, of course, what this barring of 

 doors portended — and to he out in hedgerows, even 

 in the stubble and turnip fields, until the hounds 

 had been drawn away from the wood, and then, 

 when the whole cavalcade had passed out of sight 

 and hearing, quietly emerge from their hiding- 

 places, and sneak back into covert. This stratagem 

 is continually adopted by crafty old foxes, and the 

 huntsman is often blamed for not drawing the wood 

 sufficiently — in short, leaving foxes behind him, 

 which, in reality, were not there when the hounds 

 were. The fact is, that foxes are not credited with 

 half the wiliness and sagacity they possess ; and 

 although we have often heard hares called witches, 

 the term wizard is rarely applied to any of the 

 vulpine race. 



By instinct the hare has recourse to many devices 

 when her strength and speed fail to elude the 

 pursuit of her enemies; her leaps and doubles in 

 retrograde movements, even to the last, being truly 

 surprising. Occasionally, when hardly pressed by 

 liounds, hares will take refuge in drains or rabbit- 

 holes, and if not ejected from them will resort to 

 the same shelter again to save their lives ; but, as a 

 general rule, their chief dependence is upon strata- 

 gem, to mislead their pursuers; and this constitutes 

 the great distinction between the chase of the fox 

 and the more timid animal. A fox runs straight, if 

 permitted so to do, for a given point — a head of 

 earths or drain — which he regards as his home; and 

 if barred out from them goes still further on for 



