Fox -Ways. 19 



squeak; some more swift jumps that bring him within 

 ten feet ; and now he smells or sees you, sitting motion- 

 less on your boulder in the shadow of the pines. 



He isn't surprised; at least he pretends he isn't; 

 but looks you over indifferently, as if he were used to 

 finding people sitting on that particular rock. Then 

 he trots off with an air of having forgotten something. 

 With all his cunning he never suspects you of being 

 the mouse. That little creature he believes to be 

 hiding under the rock ; and to-morrow night he will 

 very likely take a look there, or respond to your 

 squeak in the same way. 



It is only early in the season, generally before the 

 snow blows, that one can see them playing ; and 

 it is probably the young foxes that are so eager for 

 this kind of fun. Later in the season — either because 

 the cubs have lost their playfulness, or because they 

 must hunt so diligently for enough to eat that there 

 is no time for i^lay — they seldom do more than take 

 a gallop together, with a playful jump or two, before 

 going their separate ways. At all times, however, 

 they have a strong tendency to fun and mischief- 

 making. More than once, in winter, I have sur- 

 prised a fox flying round after his own bushy tail so 

 rapidly that tail and fox together looked like a great 

 yellow pin-wheel on the snow. 



When a fox meets a toad or frog, and is not hungry, 



