72 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXIV. 



fowls frequently in broad daylight ; carrying them 

 off before the faces of the women, but never com- 

 mitting themselves in this way when the men are at 

 home. From the quantity of debris of fowls, ducks, 

 &c. which are strewed here and there near the 

 abodes of these animals, the mischief they do in this 

 way must be very great. 



Cunning, however, as they are, I not unfrequently 

 put them up while walking through the swamps. 

 They lie, in fancied security, on some dry tuft of 

 heather in the midst of the pools ; and not expect- 

 ing or being accustomed to be disturbed, they re- 

 main there until my retriever raises them close to 

 my feet. One fine day in the beginning of this 

 month, when the sun was bright and warm, a setter 

 who was with me made a very singular kind of 

 point in the long heather, looking round at me with 

 an air most expressive of " Come and see what I 

 have here." As soon as I got near, the dog made a 

 rush into the rough heather, putting out a large 

 dog fox, who had been napping or basking. The 

 fox made a bolt almost between my legs to get at 

 a hole near the place ; but I stopped him with a 

 charge of duck shot : the dog, though as steady as 

 possible at all game, pursued the fox full cry, and 

 when he rolled over, worried and shook him, as a 

 bull-dog would a cat. 



