THE BLACK OR SILVER FOX. 47 



surprise, when deer shooting, I jumped up a noble 

 specimen of the red. From that date the grey com- 

 menced to diminish, and I am informed by reliable 

 authority that at the present time not a single represen- 

 tative of the smaller breed is now to be found in that 

 district. Audubon, an authority on whom generally the 

 greatest reliance can be placed, regards the black and red 

 fox as simple varieties of the same species. Doubtless 

 he never heard of the red fox being a foreigner, or he 

 would have probably agreed in the decision I have come 

 to knowing the truth of the red fox's introduction 

 that the black and red fox are entitled to be regarded 

 as representatives of different species. Nor has the red 

 fox belied his ancestry or deteriorated by his immigra- 

 tion. The keen and persevering foxhunters of Vir- 

 ginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Carolina, and Georgia, 

 give him the credit of being the most lasting and 

 difficult animal to run down that the forests produce. 

 From the natural differences between England and 

 America, fox-hunting is not only a very dissimilarly- 

 conducted sport in the latter, but one associated with 

 more labour and hardship. The woods are so immense 

 that it generally results in cover-hunting from start 

 to finish ; consequently slower hounds require to be 

 used, and every advantage of pug taken. At dawn 

 the Field assemble, so as to catch their quarry with a 



