NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK HOLLTSTEK 313 



foxes are now bred in confinement and the skkis frequently bring 

 tnormous prices in the fur market. 



The swift, or kit fox {V id pes <velox) is an inhabitant of the open 

 areas of the West and is found in many of the most arid deserts. A 

 number of species and races are recognized by mammalogists. The 

 fur has no real value. 



The common gray fox abounds in many parts of the United States 

 and Middle America. Unlike the red fox, it is a good climber and if 

 pursued by dogs readily takes to trees. The common eastern species 

 (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) maintains itself in well-settled com- 

 munities and is sometimes known by the misnomer of " silver-gray 

 fox." In localities where it is not often taken, the capture of a speci- 

 men frequently excites the trapper to the belief that he has a speci- 

 men of the real prized and valuable silver fox. The genuine silver 

 fox, mentioned above as a color phase of the red fox, is chiefly black, 

 with more or less white hair mixed in the pelage; whereas the gray 

 fox is always gray and rufous, with a blackish stripe along the upper 

 surface of the tail. The fur of the gray fox is comparatively short 

 and coarse, but is of real beauty and is considerably used by the 

 trade. Its value is much less than the fur of the red fox. 



A most interesting member of this group is the great-eared fox 

 (Otocyon megalotis) of South Africa. What is probably the first 

 specimen of this species ever exhibited alive in America was pre- 

 sented to the park by Mr. Victor J. Evans, of Washington. The as- 

 tonishing development of the ears is the chief characteristic of this 

 rare fox. 



The Eskimo dog is a variety of the common domestic animal 

 (Cams familiaris) and, contrary to general belief, apparently is 

 not a direct and scarcely modified descendant of the wolf now 

 found wild in the northern regions. Examination of dozens of 

 skulls of dogs from the ancient Eskimo dwelling sites of north- 

 eastern Siberia and from more recent Eskimo tribes fails to disclose 

 any more wolflike characteristics in the bones or teeth than are 

 found in all large domestic dogs. The primitive Eskimo dog skulls 

 are almost counterparts in all characters of the dog skulls found 

 in ancient Egyptian burials and in the pre-Columbian graves of 

 Peru. Domestic dogs have the general wolf type of skull and teeth 

 without admixture of characters derived from jackal, coyote, or any 

 South American member of the dog family; but the animal is of 

 very ancient origin and its actual wolflike ancestor is not for a 

 certainty known. 



Another very interesting dog is the dingo (Cams dingo) of Aus- 

 tralia. It is found in a wild state, and also, it is said, in a semi- 

 domesticated state among the natives of that country. It has been 

 generally believed that the dingo was introduced bv man into Aus- 



