262 CARNIVORA. 



covered with soft black fur behind ; the back ferruginous, with dark 

 stripes, one running from the head longitudinally, the other at right 

 angles over the shoulders ; the rest of the back is gray, the sides a pale 

 rusty-red, the legs and belly black. The fur is thick and long. 



THE KIT FOX AND THE GRAY FOX. 



The Kit Fox, Cam's velox of Audubon, the Can^s cinerco-argcntatus 

 of Richardson, is very like the Red Fox in shape, but approaches the 

 Gray Fox in color ; its form is slight and slender ; the tail long, bushy, 

 and tapering. It is the smallest of the American foxes ; the back is of a 

 grizzled color, the flanks of a dull reddish-orange, the belly is white. It 

 is found on the plains of the Columbia River valley, and on the plains 

 east of the Rocky Mountains ; it does not appear to be an inhabitant 

 of New Mexico, Texas, or California. 



The Gray Fox, Canis Virginiatms or griscus, has a shorter and 

 broader head than the Red Fox. The long hairs which give the general 

 color to the body are white at the roots, then for more than a third of 

 their length black, then white, with a broad black tip. This color vanes 

 somewhat, specimens from New York State being more fulvous than 

 those from South Carolina. 



The Gray Fox is in the South what the Red Fox is in the North — the 

 detestation of farmers. Audubon asserts that the former is by no means 

 rapacious ; that he is shy and cowardly, and only preys on creatures 

 much weaker than himself He hunts quail or partridges just as a 

 pointer dog will do, and runs down rabbits, and it is very fond of 

 making raids on the nests of the wild turkey. 



Till within a couple of years fox-hunting in America was exclusively 

 a Southern sport, extending from Maryland to Florida and westward to 

 Louisiana. It is now, however, being taken up in different sections of 

 the Northern States. The hounds are put on the fox's trail near some 

 cover, but it requires good dogs to follow him, as he does not leave so 

 strong a scent as the Red Fox and possesses more cunnmg. 



THE ARCTIC FOX AND THE BLUE FOX. 



The Arctic Fox, Canis lagopus (Plate XVIII), is of a pure white 

 color when in its winter dress, except at the tip of the tail, where a few 



