RANDOM NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



The Arctic Fox — Vulpes logopus, Linn. 



Occasionally we find among the stocks 

 of the furriers, skins of this beautiful little 

 fox in winter pelage of snowy white. Just 

 at present they are in much esteem, for the 

 making of mats, the head being stuffed to 

 shape, and the skin spread to its full extent. 

 It is also reported that thousands of their 

 skins are imported into China, as trimmings 

 for the dress of the mandarins. The ani- 

 mal does not occur in the United States, 

 but from Labrador northward, inhabiting 

 the Arctic portions of both continents, also 

 Iceland and Greenland. The fur is long and 

 dense (almost downy), covering even the 

 soles of the feet, and the tail is very full 

 and round ; the ears are short and erect, 

 and the head short and more dog-like 

 than with other foxes. The summer 

 pelage is said to be a bluish or leaden 

 gray. During the summer they bur- 

 row in colonies, some twenty or thirty 

 together, or when quite undisturbed are 

 often satisfied with the shelter of a rock, 

 and develop eight or ten 3'.oung at a time. 

 Their food is small mammals, birds, and 

 matters thrown upon the shore by the 

 waves, in fact, what the^' can get, the local- 

 ity does not offer much variet}'. La Nature 

 says they enter with astonishing boldness 

 the encampments of travelers, and seize not 

 only provisions, but covering, and woolen 

 and skin clothing. The naturalist Stella 

 and his companions were cast by shipwreck 

 upon Behring's Island, and for ten months 

 sufljered much from such incursions. They 

 fired at them, set traps, and capturing a 

 few individuals exposed them to the eyes of 

 their companions, but eveiy night the foxes 

 returned, stole provisions, and gnawed 

 gloves, shoes, hats, and even their reindeer- 

 skin bedding. Their capture presents no 

 difficulty, as their instinct for self-preserva- 

 tion is poorly developed ; they arc a singular 

 mixture of boldness and cowardice, stu- 

 pidity and cunning. 



The Ostiaks Saymoyeds, when the 

 ground is covered with a winding-sheet of 

 snow in winter, start upon a campaign, 

 armed with shovels made from reindeer- 

 antlers. As soon as they discover the 

 mouth of a burrow dug through the snow, 

 they ascertain its direction, open the gallerj' 

 with their shovels, seize the semi-torpid 

 animal by the tail, and dash its brains out 

 against a rock. 



Mr. P. L. Martin estimates the number 

 of skins that annually reach the markets of 

 Europe at 90,000, others come to the United 

 States, and under the existing circum- 

 stances, the species is sure to soon become 

 extinct. The Arctic fox when captured 

 young is easily tamed, and two individuals 

 of this species are now confined at the 

 JarcUn des Plantes in Paris. 



Reptiles and Batrachians of Rhode IsJand. 



BY HERMON C. BUMPUS. 



Few branches of Rhode Island natural 

 history have received less attention than its 

 herpetolog3^ Whether this arises from the 

 instinctive aversion held by the majority of 

 people for anything that " crawls," or from 

 the numerous difficulties that are met in 

 collecting data, may be a question. The 

 present need, however, of a catalogue, and 

 the fact that our Reptiles and Batrachians 

 are daily becoming fewer, has prompted the 

 writer to at once compile such facts as are 

 or ma}- be known ; soliciting special aid from 

 the readers of Random Notes. It seems 

 that by thus bringing together points of 

 interest, either in habit or special distribu- 

 tion, from so considerable a source, the 

 generalizations cannot but be valuable. 

 Such communications, as well as remark- 

 able specimens — the latter will be especially 

 desirable — should be left with the editor. 

 Specimens thus deposited, with full data, 

 will, if of sufficient interest, be preserved 

 and added to the Museum of Brown Uni- 

 versit}', where thej' will form a permanent, 

 typical state collection. 



That all interested may be able to lend 

 an helping hand to advantage, the following 

 articles will include the synonom^', and a 

 description of the several types which are 

 likely to be found inhabiting the state, to 

 which will be appended, with due credit, 

 such notes as have been submitted. Final!}-, 

 when the several types have been treated, 

 a summary and check-list will conclude the 

 series. 



Reptiles, Batrachians, and Fishes were 

 formerly included under the more general 

 term "cold-blooded vertebrates," in dis- 

 tinction from the birds and mammals pro- 

 vided with appreciably warm blood. That 

 the distinction is somewhat erroneous is 

 evident from an insight into the nature of 



