THE FOX AND HIS FUR 211 



quarters the ground like a pointer. When the scent 

 crosses his nostrils he crouches and ' points,' creeping 

 slowly on, flushes the covey and secures one with an 

 incredibly swift and cautious spring. Like our red 

 fox, the Virginian cousin will run up a tree when 

 pressed by the hounds. Some writers have asserted 

 that it climbs trees, but it seems more probable that 

 it can only ascend those trees which have a slope or 

 some irregularities on which it can fasten. In the 

 Southern States of America these foxes are often 

 hunted with hounds, and give good sport. Their 

 scent is said not to be so strong as that of the red 

 fox, but it suffices for the persevering, mellow-tongued, 

 low-scenting American hounds, who are wonderful 

 line-hunters. Probably the hounds are not quite so 

 fast as ours, but as they are seldom off the line 

 they perhaps get over the ground with nearly as 

 much speed. The grey fox helps them, too, by not 

 running right away but keeping always just ahead 

 of them. 



The old Virginian foxhunters were famous 

 sportsmen; they took, and take, as great delight in 

 foxhunting as the squires, their English cousins. 

 The Virginian fox has a handsome skin, dark grey, 

 along the back shading into red. It has no white 

 tag ; each of the hairs of the back is banded 



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