NO.1405. MAM^fALS OF NORTHWESr TERRITORIES— MACFARLANE. 701 



RED FOX CROSS FOX SILVER FOX— BLACK FOX. 



VllipCS ,spi=. 



The natives consider the forej^'oino- as l>elonj4ing- to one and the 

 same species (the common red fox), an oj)inion generally, but not 

 universally, accepted by naturalists and collectors; and while it is just 

 probable that the ditferent varieties have occasionally been found 

 among- the litter of a red fox mother, yet I have for a long time been 

 of the opinion that there must have been originall}^ two, distinct and 

 well-defined species of North American fox — the pure red and the 

 pure black ( Vulpe.^t fulva et V. nlgrn) — and, as a matter of fact, there 

 still exist many of the former and some of the latter throughout the 

 entire region under review. I also firmly believe that sexual intercourse 

 lietween a male and feniide red fox invarial)ly results in the produc- 

 tion of only red foxes. 1 am equally' satisfied that similar results 

 always follow cohabitation between a male and female black fox. In 

 course of many years' trading of fox skins, I have observed perhaps 

 every possible degree of variation between the practically perfect, 

 typical red fox and the same description of the black form. These 

 varieties between the two are easil}' accounted for, as a consequence 

 of the natural commerce which exists among the sexes during the 

 annual seasons of copulation. 



Since writing the al)ove, I have come across Chief Trader Bernard 

 R. Ross's Popular Treatise on the Fur-Bearing Animals of the Mac- 

 kenzie River District." I will now quote from page 16 thereof the 

 views held by him and therein stated, and with which 1 fully agree, 

 in this connection: 



In treating on the different varieties of foxes I have si)oken of, it is extremely 

 difficult to mark the line where one ends and the other commences. During my 

 residence in these regions I have seen every shade of colour among them, from a 

 bright flame tint to a perfectly black pelt, always excepting the tip of the tail, which 

 in all cases is white. Even the judgment of an experienced fur trader is sometimes 

 at fault to decide, in bartering, to which of the three varieties a skin should belong, 

 as they bear different prices. Still, notwithstanding this, I consider these colours to 

 have been produced by intermixture of breed. The different varieties, l)eing in my 

 opinion, (luite as distinct as those of the human race. And I do not think that any 

 of the progeny of two pairs of red foxes would l)e either black or cross. In cohabit- 

 ing the male foxes accompany the females in bands of from 3 to 10, much in the 

 manner of domestic dogs. At Dunvegan on Peace River, I have rejieatedly observed 

 this. The males fight violently for the possession of the females, many are maimed 

 and some killed. A number of males thus in all likelihood cohabit with the same 

 female, which gives rise to the varieties of colour in a litter. 



Instances are reported as having occurred in which all the varieties were taken in 

 one den, but of this I am rather doubtful. It is very difficult to tell the future colour 

 of cub foxes, the red appear to be cross, and the cross to be silver, which may have 

 caused an error, though I write under correction. I have seen many Indians even 



a Canadian Naturalist and Geologist, VI, 1861. 

 Proc. N. M. vol. xxviii— 04 45 



