CHAPTER III. 



EOX AI^D EADG-ER. 



THE FOX ( Canis indpcs). 



Notorious in all ages for his cunning and trickery, the 

 Fox is now the only wild representative of the Camdce left 

 in Great Britain. Notwithstanding his many faults, he 

 was always tolerated and treated with favour by the 

 northern races, who, believing all nature to be alive, 

 attributed to beasts and birds the gift of human speech and 

 the actions of men and women, with super-added powers of 

 transformation and change of shape. The most popular 

 tales and folk-lore in all countries and ages are connected 

 with the craft and sagacity of the fox and his power of 

 outwitting beast, bird, and even man himself ; and many 

 an Aryan mother of that younger world has hushed her 

 child to rest with much the samiO rhymes and stories of sly 

 Reinke as have done good service in the modern nursery. 

 The fox also held a subordinate place in the Norse mytho- 

 logy, being sacred to the mighty Thor, whose red, flaming 

 beard was of the same typical colour. 



There are several remarkable varieties of Canis vulpes 

 in Great Britain, the largest and strongest being the 

 Highland fox, in size and strength more like a wolf, when 

 compared v\^ith his brother of the Lowlands— his fur 

 stronger and of a greyer tint, and more white at the tip of 

 his brush ; the skull also is larger and stronger and its 

 breadth greater, and armed with more formidable canines. 



