The Monticellonian., 1904-05-19

WAGGING HIS TAIL FOR MORE. calmly chew away until the last atom was gone, and then lick his lips and wag his tail for another.
 Every now and then, if she saw anyone watching k.ar. the vixen would take one of the babies in her mouth, bring it out of the den. and hunt for some safe place to put it. Not finding one, she would often deposit the in fant on the ground. and then bring the others out, one by one. Here they would instinctively form as close bunch as possible, lying one across the back of another. like little heap of grain-saeks. One day I saw "Ths "Sprite," for the first time, take up piece of meat to eat 1t. He chewed it, and was about to swallow it, when he caught sight of pup lying on the ground near him. Up came the meat in an instant. and, clucling significant ly, he put down the food beside the youngster but the vixen, who seemed to hate more sense if less generosity, quickly gobbled it up.
 One afternoon, when we were all away, some strangers came into the garden, and stood by the side of the fox-cage until the vixen was in frenzy of anxiety The next day she had a fit. and on the following day she had nearly 30 fits, and 1 was afraid she would die before We could get yet- erinary surgeon whom 1 telephoned for at once. She seemed to waste away 70 a skeleton in the course of a few hours. her eyes were glazed, and. as she no longer recognized her pups, l took them away. The doctor gave little hope for her recovery, but we carried out his orders to the letter, and, save that she is still quite nervous, she has fully recovered from the attack. But we dared not give her the pups again, and they are now being brought up by | hand
 During the vixen's illness, and be- fore we took the pups away, it was most interesting to watch the actions of The Sprite'' He seemed to real ize that something was wrong. and never mistook the strange actions of 1 his mate for piayfulness, though both 1 foxes were in the habit of rolling on the ground when they played together. | He was very restless, and walked about the cage, examining the pups and lick ing them from time to time. He did not attempt to carry them, but when one of them would crawl into some hole or corner beneath or behind the | den, he would rake il out with his paws He also offered them food, and afterwards buried it, as usual.
 When the young foxes were 13 days | old their teeth began to come through the gums, and three days later they coL.d bite a finger hard enough to | make it uncomfortable. Even earlier than this. if they were caught up sud denly, they would give little "yap" and sEap at the offending hand. When they were 15 days old the eye of one young fox began to show signs of opening, but it was not until they were 19 days old that all of them had their sight.
 At first their only cry was a wailine whine, but after few days it became yibratory. sometimes sounding like the usual note of a screech oyl, and on the seventeenth day I first heard an uncertain ACCOMMODATION" at the end of the whine.
 They are now. at three weeks old beginning to take a real interest 1T life They toddle all about the floor pausing, when they meet one another to have a miniature rough-and-tumble fight. growing all the while as if they really mean it. In short. they take very strongly after their father, whc was just about their size year ago to-day.