CANIS VULPES. 101 



call for wild turkeys, a little before sunrise, in the vicinity of Auo-usta, 

 two Red Foxes came to the call, supposing it to be that of a wild 

 Turkey, and were both killed by one discharge of his gun." 



The silver variety is that the skin of which is so valuable an 

 article of commerce. It is a relatively scarce animal, though in 1850 

 it was sometimes seen in the mountains of Pennsylvania and the wilder 

 northern portions of the State of Xew York. The skins sold by the 

 American Fur Company came from the head-waters of the Mississippi 

 and the territories north-west of the Missouri. 



The variety to which Baird gave the name macrurus appears to be 

 one confined to the western side of the Rocky Mountains. It seems to 

 be the western form of the American Fox, as the Silver Fox is the 

 northern variety, and the Red and Cross forms are those of the more 

 eastern parts of the United States. 



The American Fox is said to be generally larger than its European 

 representative, but the Western-American form is reported to be a 

 magnificent Fox and the finest variety known. The type of the species 

 is deposited in the American Patent Office. 'J'lie special characters of 

 this variety are its large size, the length of its fur, and its long tail. 

 It is, however, admitted by Baird to be " very similar in general 

 appearance to the red fox," and to vary like it, its colours " being 

 very similar to those of the corrcspondmg varieties of the red fox." 



No cranial or dental characters distinguish it, save that it has an 

 exceedingly long and slender muzzle. This difference, however, is 

 admitted not to l)e greater than difierences which may be observed 

 between the skulls of European specimens and those of the red varieties 

 of the American Fox. 



Fossil remains of the Common Fox have been found in the Sutlblk 

 Crag, which is an Upper Pliocene deposit. 



Habitat. The Fox has the most extensive range of any of the Canidce, 

 since, imlike the Wolf, it is found in Africa north of the Sahara. It 

 extends all over Europe and Asia to some distance south of the Hima- 

 laya and to the island of Japan. In America it ranges from as far 

 north as the shores of Hudson's Bay and Labrador, down to the latitude 

 of Northern Mexico. 



