cHaPp. vi] = Cries of Night-roamers. 113 
and he repeats this at intervals varying from about six to 
eighteen minutes between each, When suddenly surprised, 
the fox gives vent to a sharp, harsh-like growl, and shows 
and snaps his teeth. “I once,” says Edward, “put my 
walking-staff into the mouth of a fox just roused from his 
lair—for foxes do not always live in holes—to see how the 
fellow would act. He worried the stick, and took it away 
with him. I have, on three different occasions, come upon 
two foxes occupying the same lair at the same time—twice 
on the cliffs by the sea, and once among the bushes in an 
old and disused quarry. In one instance, I came upon them 
in midwinter, and in the other two cases during summer.” 
The badger utters a kind of snarling grunt. This is 
done in quick succession. Then he is silent for a short 
time, and again he begins in the same strain. The otter, 
and most of the other night-roamers, have a sort of squeak, 
which they utter occasionally. But though there is a dif- 
ference between them, which Edward could distinguish, it 
is very difficult to describe it in words. Their screams, 
however, differ widely from their ordinary call. The scream 
is the result of alarm or pain, perhaps of a sudden wound ; 
the call is their nightly greeting when they hold friendly 
converse with each other; but the difference in the screams 
can only be learned by the ear, and can scarcely be described 
by words. 
The field-mice—the “ wee timorous beasties ” of Burns— 
besides their squeaking, lilt a low and not unmusical ditty 
for hours together. Edward often heard them about him, 
sometimes quite near him, sometimes beneath his head. 
He occasionally tried to clutch them, but on opening his 
hand he found it filled with grass, moss, or leaves. The 
result of his observations was, that several, if not the whole, 
of the mouse race are possessed, more or less, of the gift of 
singing. 
The otter, polecat, stoat, and weasel have a knack of 
blowing or hizzing when suddenly come upon, or when 
