THE ARCTIC FOX. 



Ill 



ONE of the most celebrated species of the Foxes is the ARCTIC Fox, called by the Russians 

 PESZI, and by the Greenlanders TERKIENNIAK. This animal is in very great repute in the 

 mercantile world on account of its beautifully silky fur, which in the cold winter months 

 becomes perfectly white. During the summer the fur is generally of a gray, or dirty brown, 

 but is frequently found of a leaden gray, or of a brown tint with a wash of blue. Towards 

 the change of the seasons the fur becomes mottled ; and by reason of this extreme variableness 

 has caused the animal to be known by several different titles. Sometimes it is called the 

 White Fox, sometimes the Blue Fox, sometimes the Sooty Fox, sometimes the Pied Fox, and 

 sometimes the Stone Fox. 



This animal is found in Lapland, Iceland, Siberia, Kamschatka, and North America, in 

 all of which places it is eagerly sought by the hunters for the sake of its fur. The pure white 



pF 



AECT1C FOX. Vvlpes lagopu*. 



coat of the winter season is the most valuable, and the bluish-gray fur of the summer months 

 is next to the white the color that is most in request. The soles of the feet are thickly covered 

 with hair, from which circumstance it has derived its name of Lagopus, or hairy foot. 



It is found that this animal possesses the power of imitating the cries of the birds on which 

 it loves to feed, and it is probable that it employs this gift for the purpose of decoying its 

 prey to their destruction. Although it is sufficiently cunning in obtaining its food, it seems 

 to be remarkably destitute of the astute craft which aids the generality of the Foxes to avoid 

 hidden dangers or to baffle their foes. It is easily induced to enter a trap, and will generally 

 permit a hunter to approach within range of an easy shot. It is true that, when a human 

 being approaches their burrows, the inmates retire into their homes ; biit as they continually 

 protrude their heads and yelp at their foe, the precaution is to very little purpose. 



In size, the Arctic Fox is not the equal of the English species, weighing only eight pounds 

 on an average, and its total length being about three feet. The eye is of a hazel tint, and very 

 bright and intelligent. It lives in burrows, which it excavates in the earth during the summer 

 months, and prefers to construct its simple dwellings in small groups of twenty or thirty. 



The Vulpine, or Fox-like group, is distinguished by having the eye pupil elliptical, and 

 a more slender head. Some important anatomical differences are noticed. 



