84 CARNIVORA. 



we have only seen one. This extraordinarily scarce 

 specimen had a black mark on the belly, black legs, and 

 the tail white, and marked with longer black hairs — a 

 most interesting variety of colour. 



A Silvery-Eed Fox (red animal with long white hairs 

 interspersed in the body) is of rare occurrence, but not 

 quite so uncommon as the white variety ; we have also 

 once seen a skin of a light fawn variety of the Eed 

 Fox. 



Eed Fox skins are most purchased for export to 

 Eussia, Turkey, Greece, Servia, Bulgaria, and other 

 Eastern countries, where they are used for trimming, 

 men's coats, etc. The red-coloured skins are most 

 eagerly competed for by the three former countries, and 

 the pale or lighter colours go to Galicia, etc. 



Many skins are also used in other parts of the 

 Continent, either made up natural into wrappers or 

 dyed black, brown, and other colours, and made into 

 various articles. The tails are also used for boas when 

 dyed black, or natural are made into hand-brushes. 



The North American Indians occasionall}^ make these 

 skins into very handsome robes. 



About 70,000 to 90,000 skins are imported annually 

 into and sold in the London market. In 1891, 13,948 

 were sold by the Hudson's Bay Company ; and 56,113 

 from Alaska, United States, and Canada, thus making 

 a total of 70,0G1 skins for the year. 



In 1816 the price ranged from 9s. 6d. to 23s. 3d., 

 which latter was an unusually high price : in 1819 21s. 

 was paid. The usual prices range from 2s. to 16s. 



In the North-eastern part of Asia the skin of the Eed 

 Fox was the chief medium of barter, in the same way 

 that the Beaver skin was in other parts of America. 



As regards its habits. Dr. Eichardson writes, in his 



