158 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



THE COMMON FOX.* 



The Foxes form a very distinct group of Canidce, differing far more from the Dog, Wolf, and 

 Jackal than those animals do from one another. The most characteristic and important difference 

 between them lies in the fact that in the Foxes the pupil of the eye contracts under the influence of 

 strong light to a vertical slit, dilating and becoming circular again as the light diminishes. This is the 

 case, as will be remembered, in the Common Cat, and many other members of the same family ; it is, 

 in fact, very usual in animals of nocturnal habits, which, being used under ordinary circumstances 

 to make shift with the smallest quantity of light obtainable, are advantaged by being able to exclude 

 all superfluous rays when the illumination becomes stronger than they can comfortably bear. More- 

 over, the muzzle of Foxes is much sharper than that of Dogs, the head more rounded, the ears erect 

 and triangular, the limbs short, and the tail or " brush" long, thick, and bushy. On account of these 



COMMON POX. 



differences, many naturalists prefer to separate the Foxes altogether from Dogs, Wolves, and Jackals, 

 and make them constitute a new genus Vulpes the Common Fox being called Vulpes vulgaris. 



The habits and appearance of the Fox are thoroughly well known, especially in Great Britain, 

 where the life of this, the greatest marauder of the farmyard, is held in such high esteem, that 

 in many places vulpicide is a crime of almost equal magnitude with homicide, and of far greater 

 magnitude than uxoricide : at any rate, if the latter operation be only fairly conducted, secundum artem, 

 with boots. In many counties, even now, the farmer who kills the pillager of his poultry-yard, instead 

 of leaving him to come by his death in the hunting-field, is promptly " sent to Coventry," and often 

 obliged to pack up, bag and baggage, and try his fortune in another locality. The Fox, indeed, must 

 be brought to justice for no crime he may commit, however great ; but when his time is up, he must 

 be hunted to death with an army of Dogs, each one twice his own size, and his dying struggles witnessed 

 by scores of horsemen and horsewomen, who are considered to have done great things if they are " in 

 at the death " of the insignificant little thing, which ought to have been knocked on the head long ago. 



The cunning of the Fox is proverbial. When hunted, he " makes a thousand shifts to get away," 

 and often succeeds in baffling the whole pack of well-trained Hounds. His stealthy tread, as he winds 

 along the hill sides and valley slopes to seek his prey or to reach his lair, is altogether characteristic of 

 one thoroughly well up to his work. Numberless tales are told of his sagacity, but we will content 



* Canis vulpes. 



