VOL. XI, PP. 53-55 MARCH 16, 1897 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



DESCRIPTION OF A NEW RED FOX FROM NOVA 

 SCOTIA. 



BY OUTRAM BANGS. 



For some years I have known of the existence in Nova Scotia * 

 of a large red fox, much larger and of a deeper color than the 

 small yellowish red Vulpes pennsylvanica typica (Bodd.) of the 

 Central States. I have had some difficulty in getting specimens 

 of this fox, but now have a series of five skins and six skulls from 

 Digby, Bear River, and Annapolis, Nova Scotia. Unfortunately 

 my specimens are mostly females or young. I have no skin and 

 only one skull of a very old male. The old males are often of 

 great size. My friend, H. A. P. Smith, Esq., of Digby, who has 

 killed very many, has several times taken them weighing close 

 to twenty pounds. 



The Nova Scotia fox presents all the color phases known as 

 ' cur,' ' cross,' ' silver gray,' and ' black ' foxes. One of my 

 specimens is a fine ' cross.' The new fox in its normal red pel 

 age is a very beautiful animal, and the fur is well known to 

 dealers, who pay much higher prices for it than for the fur of the 

 southern red fox. 



The new form may be known as : 



Vulpes pennsylvanica vafra subsp. nov. 



Type from Digby, Nova Scotia, No. 116, female, old adult. Collection 

 of E. A. and 0. Bangs. Collected November 3, 1893, by O. Bangs. 



General characters. Size considerably larger than Valpes pennsylvanica 



*This large form probably ranges throughout Boreal Eastern North 

 America generally. 



11 BIOL. Soc. WASH., VOL. XI, 1897 (53) 



