SPECIES AND VARIETIES. 655 



men recognize the long-legged fox of the mountains, which 

 has to travel to great distances to obtain his prey, and which 

 they call the Greyhound Fox ; the fox of certain woody dis- 

 tricts, called, from his larger size, the Mastiff -Fox ; and the 

 common Cur Fox, which is the least of all, and approaches 

 nearest to our dwellings. 



The Fox is characterised by the wary habits which his 

 condition requires. His prey is the smaller game, rabbits, 

 hares, birds which build their nests on the ground, and the 

 eggs and young of such birds. He steals upon his prey, and 

 does not, like the wolf and the wild hounds, seek to capture 

 it by pursuit. He lies in wait, or, cautiously approaching, 

 springs upon the game. Although a strong animal in pro- 

 portion to his bulk of body, he never courts a combat with any 

 animal that can oppose him by physical strength. It is in the 

 night only that he quits his hole or covert, although he sees 

 perfectly during the day, contracting the pupils of his eyes 

 to the degree required to allow of perfect vision. In pro- 

 portion to his intercourse with his greatest enemy, man, his 

 caution and sense of danger increase. In wild and distant 

 places, as the fur-countries of America, he readily enough 

 falls into the snares prepared for him in the woods. But, in 

 settled countries, he is suspicious, in the highest degree, of 

 means employed to entrap him. He will sometimes enter 

 into out-houses, where fowls and other small animals are 

 kept, but never until he has examined the place again and 

 again, and provided for safety and escape. If he sees a trap, 

 or even a string suspended, his suspicions are excited, and 

 he turns back until frequent visits have assured him that no 

 danger exists. "When at length he is resolved to make his 

 way into a hen-roost or poultry-yard, he makes the utmost 

 of his opportunities. Killing the animals with the least pos- 

 sible noise, he removes them one by one, and conveys them 

 to his hole, or buries them in the ground where he may find 

 them again, and never, like the wolf or dingo, destroys from 

 the mere instinct of destruction. 



