6o BEACH GRASS 



dropped on the sand and taken up again in such 

 a way that the groove, which had been on the 

 right side, was now on the left. Within a hun- 

 dred yards of the hollow in which I found the 

 heron, there were numerous tracks of young foxes 

 some of which had come to meet the old ones, 

 and followed them back to the hollow. At the 

 verge of the hollow the heron had been placed 

 on the sand before it was taken into the clump 

 of trees. 



The whole story was as clear as if I had been 

 present at the parents' return from the chase with 

 the welcome booty, although I did not see hide or 

 hair of this fox family. It was probable that 

 their hole or earth was near by, but I failed to find 

 it. Two young foxes were seen in the dunes a 

 few weeks later by several of my family who had 

 slept on the top of a dune. They awoke in the 

 early morning to see these little creatures rolling 

 over in play within a few yards of them. 

 Suddenly the foxes perceived the human 

 beings, and, with hair on end, they stamped 

 their little feet and barked savagely at the in- 

 truders. 



