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No. V.] ZOOLOGY. 



657 



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with white ; the bottom of the feet are white ; the under part of the tail, and the 

 parts of the body adjacent, are pale yellow ; the grey character of the back extends to 

 the upper part of the tail, at the commencement; the rest of the tail is dark above, 

 and lighter beneath, being tipped with white. The character of the fur is thick and 

 long. The specimen, when set up, will stand about fourteen inches high ; it is two 

 feet four inches in length, and the tail, which is thick and bushy, is sixteen inches 

 long. The colours of the coat of the Cross Foxes are said to vary considerably ; in 

 some the red preponderates, so much as to approach the Red Fox, and then to be 

 mistaken for it, in others so much dark fur prevails, that they resemble the Silver 

 Fox. Without specimens in these different states, it is impossible to arrive at 

 certainty on the subjeet, but the circumstance induces a doubt whether these three 

 kinds are specifically distinct. 



Cards Argent atus. Black or Silver Fox. 



Captain Franklin's specimen was obtained from a hunter, and has, consequently, 

 undergone the usual mutilation. The skin from the Hudson's Bay Company is in a better 

 condition, and will therefore be the one described. The animal is smaller than either 

 of the preceding, about two feet long, and probably of inferior stature ; the tail is 

 fourteen inches long. The head is short, with strong black whiskers ; the fore part 

 dark grey, having short black hairs tipped with white ; the ears are narrow and 

 pointed, black both within and without ; the back of the neck and shoulders quite 

 black, and a black line extends along the back ; the rest of the back is silvery grey ; 

 the whole under-part and sides are black, the chin and breast darkest; the legs are 

 also black; the tail is black, with a conspicuous white tip. The fur is soft, but not 

 long; the tail is less bushy than that of the Foxes before described. The skins of 

 the Black Foxes are especially valuable, and the animals are of rare occurrence ; they 

 are sometimes obtained entirely black, without any silvery markings. 



Canis Virginianus. Grey Fox. 



This animal lives in the parts of America more to the southward than those visited 

 by the travellers, and was not met with alive ; but its skin was seen in the hands of the 

 traders. This notice of it is therefore given from a skin belonging to the Hudson's 

 Bay Company, by whom they are imported under the name of Blue Foxes. The ani- 

 mal is about twenty-nine inches long, its tail not exceeding nine inches, in addition to 

 the length of the body. The fur, in colour, is nearly uniform over the whole animal, 

 loose and long, next the body pale lead colour, arid tipped with brown ; the tail is very 

 thick and bushy, and differs in having a very slight rufous tinge, which is not percep- 

 tible, on any other part of the animal. 



4 p 



