THE ARCTIC FOX AND THE BLUE FOX. 263 



black hairs are sprinkled. The fur before the eyes is short and sleek ; 

 on the neck it is as long as the ears, and is intermixed with soft wool ; 

 on the rest of the body it is very long. In most specimens the fur has a 

 bluish-gray color at the roots, the proportion of the length of the fur so 

 colored varying according to the season ; at all times the under fur is 

 of a dark brownish-gray color for half its length. In summer the long 

 white fur falls off", and is replaced by shorter hair more or less colored, 

 although individuals may at times be found so eccentric in their tastes as 

 to preserve their winter suit till the dog-days ; this is the kakkortak of the 

 Greenlanders. In form the Arctic Fox resembles the common fox ; the 

 brush is full and large, covering the nose and feet like a muff" when the 

 animal sleeps. The eyes are hazel-colored and bright, the legs are long 

 and strong, the feet large and armed with strong claws, and the animal 

 can make powerful leaps. 



The Arctic Fox is very cleanly, and does not exude an unpleasant 

 odor; it is very difficult to come upon unawares, as it seems to sleep 

 with both eyes open ; its bark is so modulated that the hearer thinks the 

 animal at a distance when it is close before his feet. It is very impatient 

 of confinement. It inhabits North America above latitude 50°, and is 

 numerous on the shores of Hudson Bay. The fur is of small value ; the 

 flesh is eatable. 



The Blue Fox, Cariis lagopus, var. fuliginosiis (Plate XVIII), is a mere 

 variety of the Arctic Fox, and is to be distinguished from the Black or 

 Silver Fox by its round ears and poor fur, which diff'ers from the ordinary 

 winter or summer states of the Arctic Fox in being entirely of a uniform 

 blackish-brown color. It is called by the Greenlanders keknektak, and 

 is very numerous in Iceland. Audubon observed two Blue Foxes which 

 came to the place where he had been cooking ; they carried off the scraps 

 of meat and buried each piece in a separate place. The Arctic F9X has 

 the same habit ; and the domestic dog, as we all know, still retains these 

 primitive uneducated instincts. 



II.— GENUS MEGALOTIS. 



The animals hitherto described are so essentially similar that we have 

 followed those authorities who place them all in one genus. We now 

 proceed to consider others which display such marked differences as 

 entitle them to be placed in separate genera. 



