MINOR FUR-BEARING ANIMALS. 111 
On December 22, 1915, Peter Kewan, at Kodiak, charged with 
killing foxes by means of klipses, waived his right to trial by jury, 
and the evidence against him being conclusive he was sentenced to 
three months in jail. 
The illegal killing of a land otter and a beaver was made the sub- 
ject of a prosecution at Eagle, with the result that two persons were 
fined $25 each. As agents of the Bureau were not concerned with the 
case details were not obtained. 
FOX FARMING. 
Fox farming is receiving attention in various parts of Alaska and is 
concerned with the blue fox and the various color phases of the red 
fox. The rearing of blue foxes is confined chiefly to the coastal 
islands, where the animals may have considerable liberty. It is un- 
derstood that attempts to breed blue foxes within limited inclosures 
in Alaska have been generally unsuccessful if not altogether so.¢ 
On the mainland of Alaska attention is given to the choicer color 
phases of the red fox. Both species are utilized in the Kodiak- 
Afognak region. 
In reference to the color phases of the red fox the following extract 
is taken from a pamphlet prepared by Dr. Ned Dearborn, of the 
Bureau of Biological Survey, Department of Agriculture (Bulletin 301), 
on silver-fox farming in eastern North America. 
The name ‘‘silver fox,”’ as commonly used by furriers, includes the dark phases of 
the ordinary red fox (genus Vulpes), variously called silver, silver gray, silver black, 
orblack. It should not be confused with the gray, or tree, fox (genus Urocyon) of the 
United States, the fur of which is of comparatively little value. The color of the red 
fox of the northeastern States and of its allies of the colder parts of North America 
varies from red to black, and these extremes, with their gradations, form four more 
or less distinct phases, known respectively as red, cross (or patch), silver, and black. 
In the red phase the fur is entirely rich fulvous, except for restricted black markings 
on the feet and ears, a white area at the end of the tail, and certain white-tipped hairs 
on the back and rump. Grading into the next phase the black increases in extent 
until, in the typical cross fox, the black predominates on the feet, legs, and underparts, 
while fulvous overlaying black covers most of the head, shoulders, and back. A 
gradual increase of the black and elimination of the fulvous, or its replacement by 
white, results in the next phase, the silver (or silver gray) fox, in which the entire 
pelage is dark at the base and heavily or lightly overlaid with grayish white. The 
color of silver foxes varies from grizzly to pure black, except for a few white-tipped 
hairs on the back andrump. Finally, in the black phase, the white is absent from all 
parts except the tip of the tail, which is white in all four phases. The red phase is 
much more abundant than the others, but all four interbreed freely, and wherever 
one occurs occasional examples of the others may be expected. In general the cross 
fox is fairly common, the silver gray scarce, and the pure black very rare. 
@ In this connection it may be stated that the superintendent of the National Zoological Park, W ashing- 
ton, D. C., has advised that some young blue foxes were received by the park in Nov ember, 1899, as a loan 
from the Semidi Propagating Co. It was understood that the foxes were shipped from the Semidi Islands, 
Alaska. Young were born each year from 1901 to 1906. Severallitters were raised, but many of the animals 
died while quite young from uncinariasis, enteritis, nephritis, and anemia. There were also some losses 
from accidents and other causes. 
