Stratagems of foxes to take water-fowl.—Amongst the devices of the fox to catch his prey, is that of sliding under water like a frog, only leaving his nostrils above the surface to take breath, in such places as that described by White, where he has observed water-fowl resort. This appears to me to have given origin to a curious legend which I have traced to Albertus Magnus, the celebrated naturalist of the middle ages. “When the fox,” says he, “is troubled with gnats or fleas, he taketh a mouthful of straw or soft hay, or hair, and so goeth into the water, dipping his hinder parts by little and little, then the insects betake themselves to his head, which he keepeth out of the water, which the fox feeling, dippeth or diveth also the same under water to his mouth, wherein he holdeth the hay as aforesaid, whereunto the flies run for sanctuary or dry refuge, which the fox perceiving, suddenly casteth it out of his mouth, and runneth out of the water, by this means easing himself of all those enemies.”—Jesse—Buffon—White of Selborne—Sporting Anecdotes.
Foxcase, s. A fox’s skin.
Foxchase, s. The pursuit of the fox with hounds.
Foxhound (Canis celer), s. A hound famous for the pursuit of foxes.
The muzzle of the fox-hound is rather long, and his head small in proportion to his body; his ears long and pendulous, though not so much as those of the blood-hound or stag-hound. His legs are very straight, his feet round and not too large, his chest deep, and breast wide, his back broad, his neck thin, his shoulders lie well back, his tail thick and bushy, and carried high when in the chase. His colour is generally white, variously patched with black in different parts of the body.
Mr. Daniel makes the following remarks on the choice of hounds. Most sportsmen have their prejudices as to the colour of their dogs. In an old distich it is said,
“So many men, so many minds,
So many hounds, so many kinds;”