ZOOLOGY. 113 



collection of 25 skins of the red or common variety in the possession of a trader, I noticed that 

 scarcely two conld be found in which the tints and shades of color were precisely alike, although 

 all conformed to one general plan of coloration, and were evidently of one and the same species. 



Owing to the diversity produced by the three varieties — red, cross, and silver — with inter- 

 mediate grades of all shades, there is much confusion among the settlers at the Dalles as to the 

 number of species which exist. In all pi-obability there is but one, varied in color, however, as 

 above. 



A very good typical specimen of this species (excepting its small size, it being a young male 

 scarcely grown) is the one whose measurements are given in chapter 2, p. 91. 



On the Columbia well dried, good skins can be readily purchased for 25 cents apiece, and in 

 the way of trade are even bought by the storekeepers for much less. They are principally 

 taken in traps or killed with strychnine. — S. 



VULPES MACROURUS, vars. DECUSSATUS and CINEREO ARGENTATUS. 



Silver Fox, Black Fox, and Cross Fox. 



Baird, Gen. Eep. Mammals, 1857, 127 and 128. 



The Hudson Bay Company's traders think tliat the different foxes hybridize largely, and 

 that in this manner the diversity of fur found in tlie "cross" and "silver" varieties is 

 produced. — G. 



Specimens of both these varieties were obtained by me at Fort Dalles, Oregon. I say 

 varieties, because I entertain no doubt upon the subject. Mr. Sinclair, who for many years 

 had l)een engaged in the fur trade, and in 1855 residing at the Hudson Bay fort at Walla- 

 Walla as officer in charge of the post, a man that I can vouch for as a reliable, intelligent 

 gentleman, assured me that he has seen in the same litter of young foxes individuals of the three 

 varieties — red, cross, and silver-gray. 



The silver-gray variety is at times so dark as to give the fox an entire black appearance. 

 Nathan Olney, esq., at the Dalles, told me that he had once seen one of these in that vicinity 

 which was completely WacA-, with the single exception of the snow-white tip to its tail so common 

 to all of the species. 



On the other hand, the Wasco Indians say that the silver-gray is a. distinct fox; that the dog, 

 or male, is of the silver color, the female being reddish. — S. 



VULPES (UROCYON) YIRGINIANUS. 



Gray Fox ; Kit Fox. 



Baird, Gen. Rep Mammals, 1857, 138. 



[For Sp. Ch. see chap. 2, p. 91.] 



A very handsome light-gray fox, smaller than the red fox, is common on the Klamath river, 

 and occurs also in Oregon, as I have seen them from the Dalles. I shot one on Salmon river, 

 California, which had been yelping for several nights in succession around my cabin. Tlie fur 

 of this species is not so fine as that of the silver-gray, but is very showy. — G. 



The only skins of the gray fox which I obtained on the Columbia were those alluded to in 



my partial report in chapter 2, p. 91, of this volume. They were found among some rubbish in 



a closet at Fort Vancouver, and their history was wrapt in obscurity. They had probably been 



obtained from southern Oregon. The Des Chutes Indians told me that it is found in the Cascade 



15 Q 



