CARNIVORA. CANID^.. 31 



Vulpes Decussatus, or Cross Fox, and the Black Fox. The 

 former, if we may credit the statements of hunters, has been 

 taken in Wilhamstown, while the latter has been observed in 

 several instances, and has been captured in Stamford, Vt., an 

 adjacent town. I have not, however, seen either, neither am I 

 disposed to give full credit to the reports cf hunters. The Cross 

 Fox is found in New York, particularly in the northern counties. 

 The Black Fox is rare throughout the Union, and only here and 

 there is an individual known. Their skins sell for about twelve 

 dollars. 



2. Vulpes Virginianus. Gmel. The Gray Fox. 



Description. Body silvery-gray, with a shade of red about the 

 ears ; darker from the shoulders to the posterior part of the back ; 

 near the body the hair is plumbeous, then yellowish, then white, 

 and then tipped with lustrous black on the front ; from the top of 

 the head to the edge of the orbits, gray, while on the rest of 

 the face, from the internal angle of the eye to within half an inch 

 of the extremity of the nose, it is blackish ; at the extremity on 

 each side of the granulated tip of the nose, it is yellowish white. 

 A fine line of black-tipped hairs extends upwards and outwards, 

 from half an inch below the internal angle of the eyes, until it is 

 intersected by a similar one about half an inch beyond the ex- 

 ternal angle of the eye, thus forming a very acute triangle, whose 

 base is on the side of the face. Mystachial bristles black ; under 

 jaw blackish ; inner surface of the ears yellowish ; tips on the 

 outside blackish-gray ; remainder yellow. There is a white spot 

 on the breast, and it is also white beneath ; tail thick and bushy ; 

 extremity black. 



The length of the head and body is about twenty-four inches, 

 and the tail eleven. Godman. 



This species is termed by furriers the Wood-gray Fox. It is 

 rather smaller than the red, is less robust, and is sooner run down 

 by hounds. It runs more hke the hare, as it regards the width of 

 its circles, when pursued. The species is rare in Massachusetts, 

 but is common in the southern portion of New York, and in New 

 Jersey and Pennsylvania. 



