658 



APPENDIX. 



[No. V. 



Canis Cinereo-argenteus. ^Grizzled Fox. 



A hunter's specimen of this pretty quadruped was obtained at Carlton-House. It is 

 common on the sandy plains between the north and south branches of the Saskat- 



chawan. 



Hudson 



the name of Kitt Foxes. It is the smallest kind which inhabits North America, and 

 though not unknown to naturalists, is but very imperfectly described. Its Latin spe- 

 cific name was applied by Gmelin. Dr. Shaw has called it the Fulvous-necked Fox, 

 but the name is so inapplicable as to render a new English appellation absolutely 

 necessary. It is the Prairie Dog of the French settlers in America. The length 

 of the head and body is about twenty-four, and of the tail, eleven inches. The 

 upper parts of the head are grizzled, consisting of white, brown, and fulvous hairs; 

 over the shoulders, on the back and sides, towards the tail, the fur is short and griz- 

 zled, having black and whitish hairs intermixed; the sides next the shoulders have 

 longer fur, which is ferruginous ; the throat and belly are white ; the tail is thick 

 and bushy, the fur of the upper side is pale, slightly tipped with black, the under part 

 is ferruginous, and the end entirely black. It is not impossible that the animal de- 

 scribed in the History of Quadrupeds, which was received by Mr. Brooks, from Pennsyl- 

 vania, under the name of Brant Fox, and referred by Pennant to the animal of that 

 name, described by Gesner and Linnaeus, may belong to this species ; in size, it ac- 

 cords, but the colours do not exactly agree with that of the present specimen. 



Canis Lagopus. Arctic Fox. 



The Arctic Foxes were found breeding at Point Turnagain on the Arctic Sea, they 

 generally continue on the sea-coast, and seldom visit the interior except in severe 

 winters ; a few breed near York Factory. They were seen by the Expedition under 

 Captain Parry, on all the North Georgian Islands, where they remain during the win- 

 ter. The animal is the Isatis of Buffon, and, in its summer coat, has been errone- 

 ously called the Blue Fox. In its winter state, it is the White Fox of commerce. 

 Specimens were brought home of the animal, as it is found in both seasons ; the White 

 Foxes are so well known, that a description of them is unnecessary, but naturalists are 

 less acquainted with the species in its summer state ; when the specimens are together, 

 a person unacquainted with the circumstance, would, with difficulty, be persuaded to 

 believe them to belong to the same animal ; the abundance and length of the winter 

 coat gives it a very enlarged appearance, whilst, on the contrary, the short condition of 

 its summer fur, causes it to seem peculiarly small. In this state, the head and the chin 

 are brown, having some fine white hairs scattered through the fur ; the ears, externally, 

 are covered 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 outsides of all the legs, 







