182 A GAMEKEEPER'S NOTE-BOOK 

 long ease, he is pushed at last from the home-wood, 

 with the pack in cry a few short chains behind his 

 apology for a brush. A fox-hound, if often cowardly, 

 is a foe of terribly unequal size and strength, one 

 carefully fed, thoroughly schooled to hunting, and 

 trained to great staying power. But a young hound 

 is as indifferent to the business of hunting as is a cub 

 when disturbed for the first time in its life. Lacka- 

 daisical is the word for the attitude of each. It is 

 an unfortunate cub that slinks aside to avoid a too- 

 inquisitive puppy and walks into the jaws of an old 

 hound. 



A cub is to be known from an old fox by its lanki- 

 ness and legginess. Full growth is not attained until 

 late November; from Christmas -time is the season 

 when the amorous barking of the foxes of the year 

 may be heard, as they run through the woods in the 

 night, seeking their mates. In early autumn the 

 cub's brush is lacking in bushiness, and is obviously 

 pointed at the tip. By Christmas if Christmas is 

 to come for him the brush will be in full-blown glory. 

 A popular superstition among countrymen is that a 

 white tip to a fox's brush denotes a dog-fox, while 

 its absence is a sure sign of vixenhood. Another old 

 fallacy that dies hard is that a fox will fascinate a 

 roosting pheasant by gazing steadfastly into its eyes 

 hypnotising it so completely that the bird drops at last 

 into the waiting jaws. But a fox's tricks need no 

 bush. He will hoax rabbits by rolling as if in inno- 

 cent frolic, rolling his way nearer and nearer until, 



