48 A. L. V. Manniche. 



up in the mountains. In rough weather the fox always sought its 

 den. The latter I generally found on low slopes facing southward. 

 Most of the dens which I found had only one, rather narrow en- 

 trance, hidden away among a couple of big stones, under some low, 

 pendant brink, between large tufts of grass etc. (often near the 

 water). In May 1907 I found on the low rock "Udkigshøjen" near 

 Hvalrosodden, two fox's dwellings not far from each other, both 

 provided with a whole system of passages leading in and out. These 

 were all easily visible and not so narrow as usual. Everything 

 seemed to imply that these dens had been used for many years as 

 breeding places. Outside the snow had been quite trampled down 

 by foxes, the excrements of which were covering the ground in large 

 heaps. Bones especially of seals, and feathers of birds, among others 

 some belonging to a white ptarmigan and a young sea-gull (Larus 

 glaucus) were spread all over the hill. Even these dens were facing 

 southward. The excrements of foxes examined here chiefly con- 

 tained hairs and fragments of lemming bones. 



In the winter the arctic fox often dug long passages through 

 the snow-drifts. Such passages were as a rule continued in the 

 proper entrance to the den which lay in the earth. 



The fox always came back to its dwelling. In the winter, 

 w4ien the animal undertook long excursions on the sea ice etc., 

 several days and nights might pass away however, before I found 

 once more its foot-prints near the entrance to the den. 



The pairing took place in March. From 10*^—13*^ March 1907 

 I daily observed the conduct of the foxes during the pairing at 

 Hvalrosodden. It was very cold, up to -f- 42°. Nevertheless the foxes 

 were strolling about busily both day and night. I often saw several 

 males eagerly pursuing a female. The motions of the animals are 

 under these conditions very unlike their usual manners. In a stran- 

 gely jumping, short gallop the males were hurrying after the fe- 

 males, always with their noses close to the foot-prints of the latter. 

 Once I saw five white males pursuing a blue female in this way. 

 As a pairing place the foxes here chose the small, snow-covered ice- 

 bergs lying a little way off the coast, some of which were perfectly 

 soiled by the foxes and covered with their foot-prints. On such an 

 ice-berg I saw in the middle of the day a white male and a blue 

 female pairing. In the immediate neighbourhood three other foxes 

 were standing — two white and a blue one — undoubtedly all 

 males. 



On March 17"^ I again visited the same localities, but this time 

 I did not see so many foxes. At the inner part of Dove Bugt I ob- 

 served a couple of foxes near some low ice-bergs close by the coast. 



