*Fox* (_Vulpes canis_, Linn.). It is safe to say that, except in the wildest and most remote corners of our island, the Fox would have been placed long ago in the list of extinct British mammals, but for its careful preservation by the various "hunts." In recent times--that is since fox-hunting became a fashionable sport--the poultry and sheep-raising agriculturist has had to bear heavy losses in order that the local pack of fox-hounds may have its well-conditioned quarry at the proper season. As far back as the reign of Elizabeth an Act of Parliament was passed for the protection of grain, which incidentally provided for the payment of "xijd" for the head of every Fox or Gray that might be brought in to the officers appointed to receive them. To-day, outside the hunt areas, the killing of a Fox is considered a meritorious act, particularly in the northern mountain districts; in Cornwall, we have seen a loafer carrying a dead Fox around the villages and receiving pence from the grateful owners of domestic poultry. [Illustration: _Pl. 34._ _E 52._ *Fox.* Vulpes canis.] [Illustration: _Pl. 35._ _E 53._ *Fox cub.* Taking a peep at the outside world.] The head and body of the Fox measures usually a trifle over two feet in length, and the bushy, white-tipped tail adds at least another foot to his total length when running; but examples have been recorded greatly exceeding these measurements. He stands only about fourteen inches high at the shoulder. The beautiful fur is russet or red-brown above and white on the under parts. The front of the limbs and the back of the ears are black. The sharp-pointed long muzzle, the erect ears, and the quick movements of the eye with its elliptical pupil combine to give him an alert, cunning appearance, which so impressed the ancient writers that they invented many stories of his astuteness. The Foxes ("Tods") of Scotland, although of the same species, have usually greyer fur than that of the English Fox. The Fox is an ancient Briton, and he was here at a period long anterior to the Mammoth's days.