Ill most specimens, the fur has a bluish-gray colour at its roots on the back, the shoulders,
and outside of the thighs, but particularly on the neck and tail. The proportion of the
length of the fur so coloured, varies with the individual and the season of the year. In
some it is confined to so small a space at the-roots as to be scarcely perceptible, and in others
it is so great as to tarnish the whiteness of its surface. At almost all times the short hair
clothing the posterior surface and margins of the ears is of a dark brownish-gray colour for
half its length, so as to give them a bluish or blackish tinge, whenever it is ruffled. No
naked callous places exist on the soles of this fox in the winter time. The claws are long,
compressed, slightly arched, and have a light horn colour.
Summe r dress.—In the months of April or May, when the snow begins to disappear,
the long white fur falls off, and is replaced by shorter hair, which is more or less coloured.
A specimen, which was killed at York Factory on Hudson’s Bay, in August, is described
by Mr. Sabine as follows. is The head and chin are brown, having some fine white hairs
scattered through the fur; the ears, externally, are coloured like the head; within they
are white: a similar brown colour extends along the back to the tail, and from the back
is continued down the outside of all the legs, but on the latter a few white hairs are intermixed;
the whole under parts, and the insides of the legs are dingy white ; the tail is
brownish above, becoming whiter at the end, and is entirely white beneath.”—On the
approach of winter-the fur lengthens, the white hairs increase in number, all the hairs
become white at the tips, but retain more or less' of the bluish or brownish-gray colour at
the roots, until the fur is in p r im e winter order, when it is of- its full length, and almost
every where of a pure white colour from the roots to the tips.—The fur on the soles of
the feet becomes thinner and shorter in the summer time, and several naked callous places
then appear, but they are not so large as those which exist on the soles of the other North"
American Foxes at the same season of the year.
It is necessary to observe that the majority only of the Arctic Foxes acquire the pure
white dress even in winter; many have a little duskiness on the nose, and others, probably
young individuals, remain more or less coloured on the body all the year. On the othei/
hand, a pure white Arctic Fox is occasionally met with in the middle of summer, and
forms the variety named JcaJckortaJc by the Greenlanders. Hearne states that the Arctic
Foxes, “ when young, are almost all over of a sooty black; but as the fall advances, the
belly, sides, and tail turn to a light ash-colour; the back, legs, some part of the face, and
the tip of the tail, change to a lead colour, and when the winter sets in, they become
perfectly white. There are few of them which have not a few dark hairs at the tip of the
tail, all the winter*.”
* Although I am not aware that a comparison between recent specimens of the Arctic Foxes of the New and Old
Worlds has been made so as to prove their identity of form, yet their perfect similarity of habits, and in the series of
variations.in their fur, may lead us to conclude that the species is the same on both continents. The Siberian hunters
informed Gmelin “ that they often found gray and white individuals in the same litter, and that the first have at birth
a very deep gray colour, the latter a yellowish tint, the hairs being in both very short. Towards the end of the summer,
when the hair begins to increase in length, foxes are often met with, having a brown streak along the back, crossed
by a similar one at the shoulders. These individuals, sometimes termed cross foxes, become at length entirely white.’*
All the different species of fox seem liable to produce a crucigerous variety.
Dimensions
Of a full-grown specimen.
Feet. Inches. Feet. Inches
Length of the head and body * 2 1 Distance from the wrist to the end of the
, „ .. tail (vertebrae) 1 0 middle fore-claw . . 0 3}
- ,, tall with the fur . 1 2 « from the tip of the nose to the
,, head. . » . . 0 n anterior angle of the eye . . 0 n
Height of ears anteriorly . 0 2 „ between the anterior angles of the
,, ears posteriorly . . * 0 H eyes . . 0 gs§
Breadth of the ears near their base .
Distance from the heel to the tip of the mid0
2 „ • between the ears 0
dle hind-daw . . . , 0 5£
Captain Lyon, during two winters passed on the Melville peninsula, studied with
attention the manners of several of these animals, which were taken and kept as
pets ; and his account contains so many interesting facts respecting their natural
history, which are recorded nowhere else, that I shall make no apology for
copying it into this work. “ In form, the Arctic Fox bears a great resemblancé
to our European species, although considerably smaller; and, owing to the great
quantity of white woolly hair with which it is clothed, is somewhat like a little
shock dog. The brush is full and large, affording an admirable covering for the
jlose and feet, to which it acts as a muff when the animal sleeps. Although the
head is not so pointed as in our English Reynard, yet it has completely the air of
cunning which is so observable in all species of foxes. The eyes are bright,
piercing, and of a clear hazel. The face of the female was always remarked to be
shorter than that of the male, and it has less of cunning and more of mildness in
its general expression. The ears are short, and thickly covered with hair, having
the appearance of being doubled at the edges, or rather of having been cropped.
The cheeks are ornamented by a projecting ruff, which extends from behind the
ears quite round the lower part of the face, to which it gives a very pleasing
appearance.
“ The legs are rather long than otherwise, and shew great strength of muscle.
The feet, which are large, are armed with strong claws. When the animal is
standing still, the hind-legs are so placed as to give the idea of weakness in thé
loins, which is certainly not the case, as few creatures can make more powerful
leaps. The general weight was about eight pounds, although some were as low
as seven, and a few as high as nine pounds and a half when in good case.
“ The Arctic Fox is an extremely cleanly animal, being very careful not to
dirt those places in which he eats or sleeps. No unpleasant smell is to be perceived,
even in a male, which is a remarkable circumstance. To come unawares
on one of these creatures is, in my opinion, impossible ; for even when in an