Note 57 — Chapter V · DENIZENS OF THE WOODS, &c. QUADRUPEDS.

This is confirmed by the late Sir John Astley, who states that, as a boy, he often gave wood-pigeons, rabbits, and rats to a litter of fox cubs, kept by their keeper within a wire fence, and they almost invariably preferred the rat.—“Fifty Years of My Life,” by Sir J. Astley. Vol. i., p. 245.