Feb., 1912. Mammals of Illinois and Wisconsin — Cory. 311 



along at the edge of a pine grove: When he passed behind a thick 

 clump I ran forward a little way and stopped, watching an opening 

 among the trees where I felt pretty certain he would show himself again. 

 Sure enough in a few minutes he appeared and trotted out across the 

 meadows. He was at least one hundred and fifty yards away and 

 going from me, but the air was still and I squeaked like a meadow mouse, 

 hoping that perhaps his big ears might catch the sound even at that 

 distance, though the sharpest human ears could scarcely have heard so 

 faint a noise at a tenth part of the distance. Yet the fox heard it and 

 stopped instantly, and turning came leaping lightly over the hassocks 

 in my direction. Every few rods he stopped, cocking his ears above the 

 sere meadow-grass to listen; then I would squeak a little lower each 

 time, and instantly catching the direction of the sound, he would come 

 trotting towards me, using greater caution than at first, and keeping 

 under cover of the hassocks as if to avoid frightening his game. When 

 he got within fifty yards there were no more hassocks or bunches of 

 grass for concealment, only the smooth sheep-trimmed sod where I 

 crouched in plain sight, with my back to what little sun shone through 

 the flecked and mottled clouds that covered the sky. He looked at 

 me sharply as if distrusting something, and if I had moved either 

 my head or hand a fraction of an inch he would have been off like an 

 arrow to the woods. But I held myself perfectly motionless, and when 

 the expression of his shrewd, gray face and the set of his ears showed 

 that his suspicions were subsiding, I squeaked once more, very faintly, 

 calling him at last almost up to me. But now he saw there was certainly 

 something wrong, and that I was neither a rock or stump or even an old 

 scarecrow, so to make sure he circled round to get the wind of me, 

 trusting more to his nostrils than to his eyesight. He was a large male, 

 gray about the face and cheeks and perfectly black on his legs and the 

 backs of his ears. His tail was a superb white-tipped brush, well 

 grizzled with black. When I spoke to him he sprang into the air and 

 went bounding away to the woods, then stopped and looked back at 

 me for a few seconds before disappearing among the trees " (/. c, p. 271) . 



Young Foxes are easily tamed and make interesting pets, but my 

 experience has been that they are not affectionate and always more or 

 less treacherous. 



Specimens examined from Illinois and Wisconsin : 

 Illinois' — Joliet, i. 

 Wisconsin— (M. P. M.) Kelly Brook, Oconto Co., 5; (O. C.) Mercer, 



Iron Co. (skulls) 2; Bayfield Co. (skull), i; Ashland Co. (skull), i; 



Langlade Co. (skull), 2; Dunn Co. (skulls), 3; (S. C.) Beaver Dam, 



Dodge Co., I ; Cambria, 1 = 16. 



