THE FOX. 213 



whole world. An ass, in this case, would have shown just as much 

 talent and cunning as Reynard himself had exhibited. 



The fox is as shy by his nature as by necessity choosing the still- 

 ness of the night to work in his nefarious calling. But on certain 

 estates, where things are kept pretty quiet, he will venture to leave 

 his hiding-place even at noon-day, and then play the mischief with 

 whatever poultry comes within his reach. 



I once imagined that I could be able to put bantam fowls upon a 

 footing with the wild pheasants in the woods ; so, when spring had 

 set in, I turned two pairs of bantams to take their chance in the 

 surrounding plantations. One of the hens made her nest in an 

 adjoining meadow, and apparently she would have hatched a plenti- 

 ful brood, if Reynard had not interfered to mar my interesting plan. 

 One day, about the hour of noon, I myself, with my own eyes, saw 

 the savage kill my bantam on its nest, and take her off in triumph. 

 This happened before the park wall was finished the completion of 

 which for ever shuts out Reynard and all his pilfering family from 

 good things which his late larder contains in such abundance. 



Foxes bark like dogs, but in a somewhat subdued tone of voice, 

 and in shorter accents. They will inhabit any part of a country, from 

 the seashore to the woods and coppices in the interior. At Flam- 

 borough Head, the rocks are so precipitous, that you would wonder 

 how even a fox could journey over them in safety to its hiding-place. 

 I have found their young ones in the hollow of an inclined old oak ; 

 and sometimes in a dry spring, on the surface of the ground, where 

 underwood and brambles invited the mother to form her nursery. 

 But the usual haunts of foxes, either for parturition or protection, are 

 far away underground in deep and winding holes ; commonly known 

 by the name of fox-earths. Sometimes the badger will frequent the 

 subterraneous retreats, not only for temporary concealment, but also 

 for a permanent abode : and this without disturbing Reynard's family. 

 In a like manner, we see amongst our own species people of very 

 opposite characters inhabiting the same floor of a lodging-house. 



From time immemorial our fox-earths, here at Walton Hall, have 

 been famous in the annals of vulpine venary. They had been made 

 under the roots of some fine old oak trees, on the side of a verdant 

 hill rising gently from the lake. In early youth I would often mount 



