than near the root, giving the whole a dark appearance; a few of the hairs at the end are
lighter, but it is not tipped with white.” The colour of the tip of the tail differs in different
specimens.
An individual, killed at Great Slave Lake, had its head and shoulders of a bright reddish-,
orange colour, which towards the rump acquired a gray tint by an intermixture of black and
white hairs. On the tail the red hairs were mixed with gray and black ones, the tip was
white. The soles of its feet were completely covered with fur. In the summer time the
fur of the soles is worn off, and naked callous places appear, but they are not so large as
in the English Fox. This specimen is now in the Museum of the Zoological Society, and
from it the accompanying etching was made.
Length of head and body
„ head alone .
tail (vertebras).
3, tail with the fur
I ts Dimensions are,
Feet. Inches. Feet. Inches.
2 9
| Height at the shoulders
0 8
1 2
„ of ears . . . .
Distance from the end of the nose to the
1
0
1
2 Î
1 6 1| anterior angle of the eyes 0 3
The Red Fox burrows in the summer, and in the winter takes shelter under a.
fallen tree. It brings forth four young about the beginning of May. They are
covered at birth with a soft downy fur, of a yellowish-gray colour, the orange
coloured hair not beginning to appear until they are five or six weeks old. Even
the Indian hunters do not know the cubs at an early age from those of the Cross
or Silver Foxes, and I therefore cannot now place the reliance I was once induced
to do on their report of young cross foxes being found in the burrows of the Red
Fox. I procured four cubs, a fortnight old, which several hunters said were cross
foxes, but which proved eventually to be the red variety. These little creatures
began very early to make burrows in the sandy floor of the house in which I kept
them, and used to hide themselves during the day. They were, however, very
tame, came when I called them, and would take food from my hand and carry it
to their different places of concealment, never eating it when overlooked. I entertained
hopes of bringing them to England, but they made their escape on the
journey to the coast.
The Red Foxes prey much on the smaller animals of the rat family, but they are
fond of fish, and reject no kind of animal food that comes in their way. They are
taken in steel traps, and also in fall-traps, made of logs, but much nicety is
required in setting them, as the animal is very suspicious. Some of the best fox-
hunters in the fur countries ascribe their success to the use of assafcetida, castoreum,
and other strong smelling substances with which they rub their traps and the small
twigs set up in the neighbourhood, alleging that foxes are fond of such perfumes.
The Red Fox hunts for its food chiefly in the night, but it is also frequently seen'
in the day-time. In the winter time their tracts are most frequent on the borders
of lakes, which they quarter much like a pointer dog. They turn aside to almost
every stump or twig sticking up through the snow, and void their urine on it like
a dog.
The Red Fox does not possess the wind of its English congener. It runs for
about a hundred yards with great swiftness, but its strength is exhausted in the
first burst, and it is soon overtaken by a wolf or a mounted, huntsman. Its flesh,
is ill tasted, and is eaten only through necessity.
Canis pulvus, yar. /3. decussatus. American Cross Fox.
Renard barré ou Tsinantontonque. Sagard Theodat, Canada, p. 745.
European Fox, var. 0. Cross Fox. Pennant, Arctic Zoo!., vol. i. p. 46.
Canis decussatus. Geoffroy, Collect, du Mus. Sabine, Franklin's Joum., p. 656. Harlan, Fauna, p. 8 8 .
Cross Fox. Hudson Bay Company’s Lists.
Beloduschki. Russians.
I am inclined to adhere to the opinion of the Indians in considering the Cross
Fox of the fur traders to be a mere variety of the Red Fox, as I found on inquiry
that the gradations of colour between characteristic specimens of the Cross and
Red Fox are so small, that the hunters are often in doubt with respect to the
proper denomination of a skin, and I was frequently told “ This is not a cross fox
yet, but it is becoming so.” The Canis crucigera of Gesner, which is considered
by Baron Cuvier to be a mere variety of the European Fox, differs from the latter
animal in the same way that thé American Cross Fox does from the red one, and
there is also a crucigerous variety of the Isatis or Arctic Fox. Mr. Hutchins,
however, remarks that the Cross Fox does not exceed the size of the European
one, and is smaller than the Red Fox. If there really be a difference of sizê
between the red and cross races inhabiting the same districts, they ought, perhaps,
to be considered distinct species.
The fur of the Cross Fox is valuable, and some years ago it was worth four or
five guineas a skin, whilst that of the Red Fox did not bring more than fifteen
shillings. The difference of value seems to depend principally on the colour, for
some öf the red foxes appear to have as long and as fine fur.