THE AMERICAN FOX. 



335 



as possible to the ground. Presently the hounds came along in full cry, and with a 

 blazing scent, darting over the hill in hot pursuit, and never stopping until they reached 

 the bottom of the hill. As soon as the last hound had passed, the Fox resumed his 

 legs, crept quietly over the brow of the hill, and returned to his covert at leisure. 



Another of these creatures made use of a very cunning device for the same purpose. 

 In this instance, he always led his pursuers to the edge of a cliff that rose perpendicu- 

 larly for several hundred feet, and then disappeared. The hunters had often examined 

 the spot, and unsuccessfully, for it seemed that no wingless animal could venture to take 

 such a fearful leap. The secret was, however, at last discovered by a concealed spy. 

 The crafty Fox was seen coming quite at his leisure to the edge of the cliff, and then 

 to look down. Some ten feet below the edge there was a kind of break in the strata 

 of stone, forming a kind of step, about a foot in width. By means of his claws the Fox 

 let himself down upon his step and then disappeared in a hollow which was invisible 

 from above. 



A man was lowered by ropes to the spot, and found that there was a wide fissure in 

 the rock, to which the stony step formed an entrance. On searching the cavern it was 

 found to have another and an easy outlet upon the level ground above. The Fox, 

 however, never used this entrance when the hounds were on his trail, but cut off the 



AMERICAN FOX.-Vulpes fulvus. 



scent by scrambling over the cliff, and then emerged at the other outlet without danger 

 of discovery. 



Mr. C. W. Webber narrates an equally curious instance of the cunning of a Fox in 

 escaping from his pursuers. 



" There was a certain briary old field of great extent, near the middle of which we 

 could, on any morning of the year, start a gray Fox. After a chase of an hour or so, 

 just enough to blow the dogs and horses well, we invariably lost the Fox at the same 

 spot, the fence-corner of a large plantation, which opened into a heavy forest on one 

 side of this old field. The frequency and certainty of this event became the standing 

 joke of the country. Fox-hunters from other neighborhoods would bring their pack 

 for miles, to have a run out of this mysterious Fox, in the hope of clearing up the mys- 

 tery. But no. They were all baffled alike. We often examined the ground critically, 

 to find out, if possible, the mode of escape, but could discover nothing that in any way 

 acounted for it, or suggested any theory in regard to it. That it did not fly was very 

 sure ; that it must escape along the fence in some way was equally so. My first idea 

 was, that the animal, as is very common, had climbed upon the top rail of the fence, 

 and walked along it to such a distance, before leaping off, that the dogs were entirely 



