x sets to
work and scoops out his own. Herein he sleeps all the day, and comes
forth only at night. A small chamber from the main room serves as the
nursery, and here the babies are born and nurtured. Nothing is more
beautiful than to see the entire family--mother, father, and
children--come forth at evening to play. The young are as sportive as
pups, but they never wander far from home. Their broad heads, grey
coats, short tails and awkward appearance would lead no one to think
that they were the children of handsome, nimble-limbed, intelligent Mrs.
Fox!

Woe to the dog that enters Mrs. Fox's home! She is a pugilist of the
first order, and knows how to fight far better than the average bull
terrier. It requires a very savage dog to kill her, and he is apt to be
minus an ear when the battle is over.

Red and grey foxes are similar in intelligence, but differ in many other
ways: the former are like the gipsies in always moving about from place
to place, while the latter stick to one general locality, although their
hunting-grounds may range for several miles in all directions. Red foxes
seem actually to enjoy being hunted by dogs; in most cases they will
outrun the dogs, and rarely seek protection from caves or rocks.

The grey fox, on the other hand, cares little for racing, but seeks
protection among rocky cliffs where the dogs are at a disadvantage. Here
none but the smallest canines may enter the holes and crannies, and they
are usually wise enough to stay out. Hunters are thoroughly familiar
with the tactics of the fox family, and therefore select the red ones
for their sport.

The foxes are truly famed for their cunning, and when other animals try
to play tricks on them, the trick usually turns out in the foxes'
favour. During the winter season these wise creatures are sometimes hard
pressed for food. Birds and small animals are hard to catch, and the
farmers' chicken houses are closed. It is then that the wise fox needs
all his wit and wisdom, for he oftentimes becomes the hunted as well as
the hunter. His chief enemies are the puma and the timber wolf, but they
are seldom able to get him.

The prairie-dog is so talented that he might be classed under several
headings; he is sociable, a burrower, and especially gifted in the art
of constructing underground "dog towns." He is rarely called by his
Indian name, _Wish-ton-wish_, and we know him only as the prairie-dog.
Evidently he was given this name because of