ORDER OE CARNIVORA. 
389 
ning, which has given it great notoriety. “ As cunning as 
a Fox” is one of the most common adages in the languages 
of nations. 
The Fox never attacks animals capable of resistance. In the 
' twilight it ventures out in quest of its prey, when it wanders 
S silently around the country, prowling about the covers and 
hedges, hoping to surprise Birds, Babbits, or Hares, its usual 
prey. 
j In default of such delicate food, however, it will eat Field-Mice, 
Lizards, Frogs, &c. It does not dislike certain fruits. For 
j grapes it exhibits a great predilection. 
To domestic fowls it is terribly destructive. When during its 
nocturnal prowling the crow of a Cock strikes its ear, it turns 
at once in the direction of the welcome sound. It wanders in- 
cessantly around the poultry-yard, examining, scrutinising, and 
I observing all the weak points by which an entrance might be 
gained. When at last successful in reaching the hen-roost, 
a reckless carnage among its occupants is made, and this not 
! so much to satisfy a craving for blood as to provide store for 
the future. With this object, one by one the victims are carried 
off, and concealed in the woods or its den. 
If all efforts to enter the hen-roost are unsuccessful, then Bey- 
nard undertakes to ruin it in detail, and to slay in one or more 
months those which he cannot kill in a day. With this intention 
he installs himself on the margin of a wood, in proximity to the 
farm, and anxiously watches every movement of the poultry. If 
his prey wander into the fields, his attentions are doubled ; seizing 
the moment when the watch- dog is out of sight, he creeps towards 
them on his belly, draws near his victim without being seen, 
seizes, strangles, and carries it off. When these manoeuvres have 
once succeeded, they are repeated till the poultry-yard is de- 
populated. 
The following story, narrated to me by an old woodman, also 
illustrates their cunning. Two Foxes, located in a neighbour- 
hood where Hares abounded, adopted an ingenious stratagem 
for capturing them. One of them lay in ambush on the side of 
a road ; the other started the quarry and pursued it with ardour, 
with the object of driving the game into the road guarded by his 
associate. From time to time, by an occasional bark, the associate 
