572 THE CARNIVORES 



black tip to the tail, coupled with the small size of the animal, at once distinguishes 

 this species from all the other foxes inhabiting India proper. 



This fox is to be met with everywhere in India, except where there are thick 

 forests ; but it does not occur to the westward of the Punjab nor to the eastward of 

 Assam, while its reported occurrence in Ceylon is more than doubtful. Its cry is a 

 short yelping bark, quickly repeated three or four times. It is by no means shy, 

 and I have shot one which had walked boldly up to within gunshot range of my camp. 

 Sir W. Elliot writes that " its principal food is rats, land crabs, grasshoppers, bee- 

 tles, etc. On one occasian a half-devoured mango was found in the stomach. It 

 always burrows in the open plains, runs with great speed, doubling like a hare ; but 

 instead of striking out at first like that animal, and trusting to its turns as a last re- 

 source, the fox turns more at first, and if it can fatigue the dogs then goes straight 

 away." Jerdon states that " the burrow which this fox makes has always several 

 openings converging toward the centre, some of them blind, others leading toward 

 a larger central one where the animal breeds. This is often two or three feet below 

 the surface. The burrow is usually situated quite in the open plain, now and then 

 in some thorny scrub. In alluvial plains the fox takes advantage of any small rise 

 in the ground to prevent its den being flooded in the rains, and its burrow is fre- 

 quently found in the dams of tanks and other artificial mounds. I have on two oc- 

 casions run foxes to holes in old trees, which, from the marks round one of them, 

 had evidently been occupied by the animal for long. Lizards are a favorite food 

 with the fox, as well as rats, crabs, various insects, white ants, etc." 



On account of not possessing the strong scent of its European relative, the In- 

 dian fox is but little hunted with hounds. It is, however, frequently coursed with 

 greyhounds, when, from its numerous doubles, it gives a good run ; pure-bred Eng- 

 lish greyhounds, are, however, too fleet to give good sport, and either half-bred or 

 Arabian or Persian dogs are in consequence generally employed. According to Jer- 

 don, when the animal is going slowly or hunting for food, the tail is trailed on the 

 ground ; when running, it is stretched out horizontally ; while during the doubling it 

 is raised erect. The young are almost invariably four in number at a birth, and are 

 produced during February, March, and April. The Indian fox is easily tamed, and 

 in this state is more agreeable than most other foxes, owing to the absence of odor. 

 This fox (C. canus) is a still smaller species inhabiting Baluchistan 

 and the southern parts of Afghanistan, and at present known in Eu- 

 rope by only three specimens. The length of the head and body is only eighteen 

 inches, and that of the unusually long tail from fifteen to sixteen inches. It is dis- 

 tinguished from the preceding species by the more ashy-gray tinge of its fur. 



LONG-EARED FOXES {Canis chama, zerda, etc.) 



The South African asse fox (C. chama) is the first of a group of four species 

 from Africa, two of these being characterized by the extreme length of their ears. 

 It is somewhat smaller than the common fox, but it has considerably longer ears, 

 and therefore appears to form a kind of transition from the true foxes toward the 



