XIX 



FOX 



N Birdland, the Fox is branded as an outlaw. Many 

 a roosting bird has been ruthlessly torn from its 

 perch by this keen prowler of the night. About 

 the hour of sunset we may sometimes see him 

 slinking along the hedgerows, keeping in the 

 shadows, and often stopping, with ears erect and one foot lifted, 

 ever on the look-out for enemies, for those creatures which prey 

 on their wild companions of the woods and fields are ever the 

 most cunning and artful. On the Welsh hills, where my photo- 

 graph was obtained, the Fox is not often seen, although it is 

 far from rare. 



Some of the farmers told me sad tales of Reynard's thieving 

 propensities, and at one little farmhouse up on the hills very 

 many chickens had been stolen, and at last a sharp watch was 

 kept, and one evening, soon after dusk, the wanderer was seen 

 coming for his supper, sneaking along, keeping as much as 

 possible under shelter until near the spot where he usually found 

 some tasty morsel, then a loud report rang out and echoed round 

 and around the rocks, and that Fox never again wandered over 

 those hills. One could not help feeling sorry for him. The love 

 of sport is born in the majority of people, and most practise 

 it in one form or another. The Fox's existence being from 

 beginning to end one long life of sport, one cannot but admire 



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