132 FOXES AT HOME. 



'' stops," I took Kitty to show me how It was 

 done, and her procedure in each case was 

 always the same. 



Having found the " stop," which I ahvays 

 allowed her to do for herself, remaining at a 

 respectable distance, she opened it carefully 

 with one paw^, and then listened most intently 

 at the mouth of the hole, one paw up, and 

 the whole body perfectly rigid for several 

 seconds, perhaps a minute, during which time 

 she seemed to ascertain the direction of the 

 hole ; then she stole very quietly on a few 

 feet from the mouth of the hole, and placed 

 her ear close to the ground with the head 

 at one side, like a terrier listening for rals^ 

 frequently turning round the other ear, and 

 after a minute or so moved on farther until 

 she eventually arrived exactly over the nest. 

 Then she seemed to get very excited and 

 started scratching as if for her life, and in 

 a very short time had the young ones out, 

 nest and all. When she got down to the 

 nest she generally put in her paw and it 

 seemed as if she was folding it round the 

 young rabbits ; she then pulled the nest out 

 with her teeth, most of the young ones 



