The Dog Tribe. 107 



and leaping oft' at right angles, in the hope of escaping 

 before the fraud is discovered. The animal will even 

 roll in any odorous substance he can find, in order to 

 disguise his own peculiar scent, and mislead the 

 hounds by causing them to imagine that they are upon 

 the wrong track. 



Many foxes become so crafty that they make their 

 escape again and again, always contriving to elude the 

 pack, until the hounds become completely dispirited, 

 and consider the issue of the chase as a foregone con- 

 clusion. 



There is a gravel pit in Kent which exhibits the 

 cunning of the fox in a very singular manner. 



The animal has burrowed into the ground at some 

 distance from the mouth of the pit, carefully concealing 

 the entrance to the ' earth ' among the tangled vege- 

 tation. Carrying the tunnel on, a second exit appears 

 in the side of the pit itself, some half-way to the 

 ground. 



When hunted, the animal was evidently accustomed 

 to enter his burrow at the upper end, pass through it, 

 and make his escape by leaping into the quarry, while 

 the hounds were at fault above, the idea of the second 

 exit not being likely to strike the huntsmen, at any rate 

 for some little time. 



The same craft and cunning is employed by the 

 fox when pillaging the hen-roosts, etc., of the neigh- 

 bourhood, his visits being paid with such caution that 

 detection is rendered almost impossible. 



Yet, cunning as is the fox as a general rule, on some 

 occasions his craft seems almost entirely to desert him. 

 The late Mr. Charles Waterton, in one of his well 

 known essays, relates an instance of this want of saga- 

 city. 



A fox, visiting a poultry-yard, had made oft" with 

 eight young turkeys. Finding that his booty would 



