124 A GAMEKEEPER'S NOTE-BOOK 



sentinel, and from its movements one may determine 

 within a yard where the stoat is lurking. Jays, by 

 their screams, give prompt warning that a fox is on 

 the prowl, and no human trespasser, in pursuit of 

 game or otherwise, can hope to escape their attentions. 

 A lively reception awaits the fox moving in a wood 

 by day, and his progress may be marked through 

 the length of a big covert by the agitated way in 

 which the cock pheasants mount the trees, .with 

 warning " cock-up." In the open the peewits 

 will gather to swoop and swerve in anger and 

 defiance above the fox's head. 



There was a small rabbit in our woods who might 

 have congratulated himself on two wonderful escapes 



from death. We first made his acquaint - 

 A m 9 ance in a quiet by-lane, and just in time to 

 Fates drive away a stoat that was loping swiftly 



along on his trail. A little rabbit is pathetic 

 in fear, and instinctively one is angered against the 

 stoat which would take its life though the stoat's teeth 

 represent the natural weapon of rabbit destruction. 

 The rabbit fled on his way directly towards a motor- 

 car coming at speed round a corner. He darted to 

 one side, escaping the wheels by the fur of his tail, 

 then foolishly turned across the road, and again 

 escaped the wheels by a miracle. We wondered 

 whether the fate thus avoided would have been easier 





