, FOXES 



foxes is of the same nature as that of the black 

 and brown lambs, and that they have the same 

 tendency to grow paler as they grow older ? — for 

 foxes are killed in all the varying shades and 

 qualities of fur, from the black to the common 

 red. One variety known by furriers as the cross 

 fox has the fur of the ordinary colour, while the 

 long over-hair is black, the points falling together 

 on the shoulder in the pattern of a cross. 



My theory might be made to account for the 

 fact that the black fox or foxes disappeared so 

 quickly from the neighbourhood, without any 

 having been taken by the hunters. 



The first one that I saw crossed the road about 

 one hundred yards from me, and trotted along by 

 the edge of a field on the snow-crust, giving me 

 a good opportunity to observe him, sometimes 

 against a background of dark pines, and at no 

 time did he show any other colour than black, 

 though the sun, which was near setting, was at my 

 back all the time. A few weeks later, on coming 



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