If it fails to secure such delicate food, however, it will eat Field Mice, Lizards, Frogs, &c. It does not dislike certain fruits, and it is especially fond of grapes. To domestic Fowls it is terribly destructive. When during its nightly prowling the crow of a Cock strikes its ear, it turns at once in the direction of the welcome sound. It wanders around the poultry yard, examining and 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 Reynard 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, close 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, 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 empty. The following story, narrated to me by an old woodman, also illustrates their cunning. Two Foxes, located in a neighborhood where Hares abounded, adopted an ingenious plan for capturing them. One of them lay in ambush on the side of a road; the other started the quarry and pursued it with ardor, with the object of driving the game into the road guarded by his associate. From time to time, by an occasional bark, the associate in ambush was notified how the chase was succeeding. When a Hare was driven into the road it was immediately pounced on, and both Foxes devoured it in thorough good fellowship. Nevertheless, it sometimes happened that the Fox who kept watch miscalculated his spring, and the Hare escaped. When, as though puzzled at his want of skill, he resumed his post, jumped on to the road, and several times repeated the movement. His comrade arriving in the middle of this exercise, was not slow to comprehend its meaning, and irritated at being fatigued to no purpose, chastised his clumsy associate; but a tussle of a few minutes sufficed to expend the bad humor, and they were ready to try again. The adult Fox is also assisted by its young in procuring food when they become old enough. Some observers say that these family excursions are undertaken for the education of the cubs. When on a hunt to obtain aquatic Birds, among the reeds and rushes that margin the borders of lakes and rivers, Foxes always proceed with extreme caution, and take especial care not to become unnecessarily wet.