FOX. 53 



that the local pack of fox-hounds may have its well-conditioned 

 quarry at the proper season. As far back as the reign of 

 Klizabeth an Act of Parliament was passed for the protection 

 of grain, which incidentally provided for the payment of "xijd " 

 for the head of every Fox or Gray that might be brought in to 

 the officers appointed to receive them. To-day, outside the 

 hunt areas, the killing of a Fox is considered a meritorious act, 

 particularly in the northern mountain districts ; in Cornwall, we 

 have seen a loafer carrying a dead Fox around the villages and 

 receiving pence from the grateful owners of domestic poultry. 



The head and body of the Fox measures usually a trifle over 

 two feet in length, and the bushy, white-tipped tail adds at least 

 another foot to his total length when running ; but examples 

 have been recorded greatly exceeding these measurements. 

 He stands only about fourteen inches high at the shoulder. 

 The beautiful fur is russet or red-brown above and white on the 

 under parts. The front of the limbs and the back of the ears 

 are black. The sharp-pointed long muzzle, the erect ears, and 

 the quick movements of the eye with its elliptical pupil combine 

 to give him an alert, cunning appearance, which so impressed 

 the ancient writers that they invented many stories of his astute- 

 ness. The Foxes (" Tods ") of Scotland, although of the same 

 species, have usually greyer fur than that of the English Fox. 

 The Fox is an ancient Briton, and he was here at a period long 

 anterior to the Mammoth's days. 



The habits of the Fox are nocturnal, and save at the breeding 

 season he leads a solitary life. The day is spent in an " earth " 

 a burrow underground, rarely made by himself, usually 

 acquired from Badger or Rabbit ; in the former case he has 

 probably taken up quarters in the entrance to a Badger's earth 

 and rendered it uninhabitable to the more cleanly beast by 

 permeating it with the secretion from glands under the tail. In 

 the case of the Rabbit-burrow the Fox gets undisputed posses- 

 sion by eating out those who constructed it. The Fox then 



