304 FOX-COURTS RECOMMENDED. 



you, that he forgot the place where he turned 

 him out, and they never once could hit upon 

 the scent. 



If you breed up cubs, you will find a fox- 

 court necessary : they should be kept there 

 till they are large enough to take care of them- 

 selves. It ought to be open at the top, and 

 walled in. I need not tell you that it must 

 be every way well secured, and particularly 

 the floor of it, which must be either bricked 

 or paved. A few boards fitted to the corners 

 will also be of use to shelter and to hide them. 

 Foxes ought to be kept very clean, and -have 

 plenty of fresh water : birds and rabbits are 

 their best food : horse-flesh might give them 

 the mange ; for they are subject to this dis- 

 order. I remember a remarkable instance of 

 it. Going out to course, I met the whipper- 

 in returning from exercising his horses, and 

 asked him if he had found any hares ? " No, 

 sir,"*' he replied ; " but I have caught a fox. I 

 saw him sunning himself under a hedge, and 

 finding he could not run, I drove him up into 

 a corner, got off" my horse, and took him up ; 

 but he is since dead." I found him at the place 

 he directed me to, and he was indeed a curiosity. 



