FOXES AND THE EVERLASTING QUESTION 175 



spring to increase breeding stocks ; but since this 

 plan would encourage a trade in spurious Hungarians, 

 which it is much more desirable to check than to 

 encourage, I do not think it would find much favour. 

 The prospect of Anglo-Hungarian partridges being 

 eaten by Anglo- Hungarian foxes never would com- 

 mend itself to keepers. I wonder how many of the 

 foreign foxes sold in England are foreign-bred ? or, 

 to put it another way, what becomes of numbers of 

 live English-bred foxes ? Are they exported as a 

 complimentary change of blood, or are they well 

 transmogrified ? 



It is glibly suggested that the keeper should 

 dress all his partridge-nests with some evil-smelling 

 fluid, and so protect them. Is not this in itself 

 evidence of need of protection ? But what keeper, 

 try how he may, can find all, or even half, the 

 partridge-nests on his beat ? It is true that if he 

 has the time, he can find a good many of those in 

 hedges and so on, and, therefore, most liable to ruin 

 by foxes. But, assuming that as many nests as 

 possible are found and scent-protected, at consider- 

 able extra labour and risk of drawing to them 

 destructive attention, which otherwise they probably 

 would escape, what good is it all ? At best, the 

 hatched broods for weeks must run a great risk 

 from which nothing can protect them. A keeper 

 may blow a horn all night to scare foxes from 

 foraging on his beat. Well, assuming that no fox 



