In the short space of two hours in the afternoon of the 19th ult. [March] Mr. Isaac Pearson, of Poolbank, near Kendal, killed ten woodcocks at eleven shots on the woody grounds at Whitbarrow.
The following curious circumstance happened on Monday, the 17th ult. The Allendale Foxhounds pursued a fox for some time on Staward banks and the grounds adjacent, until at last poor reynard was under the necessity of taking shelter in the crags; and the sportsmen, with greatest difficulty, opened the hole and secured their prey, which, upon examination, was found to be a large bitch-fox. She was taken to Bishopfield, where, to the great surprise of the keeper, on the Thursday following, she brought forth six fine young cubs, which are at this time with the mother, and are all likely to live.
Home Circuit.—Brown v. Boxall. At Kingston, March 27th, this action was brought against the defendant for having in his possession a tunnel net for catching partridges, contrary to the statute of Queen Anne. The fact of finding the net at the defendant’s house was proved by one of the Duke of York’s gamekeepers. The net was produced, and it appeared to have been recently used, as a great many partridges’ feathers were sticking to it. No defence was made, and the plaintiff had a verdict for the penalty of five pounds.
Otter-hunting.—On Thursday, April 24th, the hounds of Andrew Corbet, Esq., of Acton Reynald, in the county of Salop, threw off at Ternhill, and, opposite Fordall, hit on a drag which led them to a covered drain between the two pools at Buntings-dale, from which an otter was immediately bolted into the lower pool, where he showed excellent sport for forty minutes, and was killed in high style. On Friday, the same hounds resumed the sport, throwing off at Brook’s Mill, near Combermere, in Cheshire, where they were again successful in finding and killing a large dog otter. On Saturday, this famous pack threw off at Norton, above Drayton, and came down water to Peetswood pools, where they found a remarkable large otter, weighing 23 lbs., which was speared by Mr. Davies, after a chase of two hours.
The Sportsman’s Library.
The latest addition to the popular “Fur, Feather and Fin Series” of monographs is Mr. T. F. Dale’s contribution on the fox.[[14]] A most entertaining volume he has put together, for he combines practical knowledge with much reading; and the preparation of the work has evidently been a labour of love. There is not a phase of interest relating to the fox upon which the author has not touched, from the secrets of the animal’s normal life to the part he plays in fable and legend. He opens his first chapter with the apt remark that “the survival of the fox is the most notable fact in his natural history”; and of the British fox this is especially true: it was Ralph Holinshed, if we mistake not, who in Queen Elizabeth’s time offered the explanation of the fox’s survival in the suggestion that he must long ere then have been exterminated but for the indulgence shown him by the farming classes out of goodwill to the sporting tastes of their landlords. In course of his remarks on the species and varieties of foxes the author touches upon the disputed question of fox-dog hybrids, and clearly leans to the belief that such crosses do occur under favourable circumstances. He will have the weight of expert opinion with him in his observations on scent. It is, we think, generally accepted as a fact that the scent of individual foxes differs, at least in degree; but is it certain that Asiatic foxes leave no scent? We may grant that absence of this quality would be of distinct advantage to a weak animal in countries where beasts of prey occur; but does not scent confer an advantage on the owner as well as a disadvantage? We should be inclined to think that the heat of the sun was largely accountable for the lack of scent noticeable in Indian foxes.