MAMMALS C A \IDAF. VULPUS FULVUS. 125 



The tail is very full and large, rather smaller at base, and towards the end tapering into a 

 conical tip. Its structure is entirely different from that of the gray fox in being uniform 

 throughout, the hairs standing out almost directly perpendicular to the vertebrae, with a slightly 

 backward direction. There are long hairs interspersed among the softer fur, but these are 

 scarcely different in diameter and character from the under fur. In Vulpes virginianus, on the 

 contrary, there is a great predominance of stiff bristly hairs, concealing the under fur ; and 

 along the dorsal line of the tail these hairs are aggregated into a concealed mane, to the exclu 

 sion of the other fur. The general direction of the hairs on the tail is also backwards, and the 

 tail itself is much less full and bushy. 



The same difference of hair on the tail is seen on the rest of the body. There is a long silky 

 hair forming the exterior coat, beneath which is the shorter under fur. This, however, is not 

 entirely concealed, but appears occasionally between the other. In the gray fox, on the con 

 trary, the long hair is stiff and close set, and covers the under fur entirely. 



The long hairs on the back measure about two and a half inches ; the longest ones of the 

 tail 3 or 3. 



This fox exhibits three distinct types of coloration, which will be separately described. In 

 the first one, the prevailing color is a bright reddish chestnut ; in the second, there is a dark 

 cross on the back, the sides being yellowish ; in the third, the colors are almost uniform black. 

 These are known respectively as the red, cross, and black foxes. 



Red variety. The prevailing colors in this variety are a bright, clear, yellowish rufous, 

 darkest on the fore part of the back and shoulders, where the color has a rich purplish tinge. 

 The top of the head and the buttocks, including the posterior half of the back, are coarsely 

 and conspicuously grizzled with pale reddish white, caused by broad subterminal annulations 

 and tips of this color on the reddish hairs. On the rest of the body the colors are quite 

 uniform. The under parts are much like the sides ; there is a very narrow line of dull white 

 on the belly, which posteriorly between the legs is more extended, and is seen on the inside of 

 the thighs. The lower half of the face, the inside of the ears, the chin, throat and space 

 between the fore legs are white, interrupted by a band of reddish on the hinder part of the 

 throat, and an indistinct line of dusky down the centre of the chin. There is also a dusky 

 shade along the tips and around the insertions of the whiskers. The convexity of the ears is 

 entirely of a uniform glossy black, as are also the feet, from the carpal and tarsal joints, this 

 same color extending up the fore arm and leg, especially on the outer surface. The posterior 

 line of the feet, however, and the other portions of the legs not already mentioned, are of a 

 chestnut red, slightly varied here and there. 



The general color of the tail i a yellowish red, somewhat paler beneath, and with a whitish 

 tip. Nearly all the hairs are, however, largely tipped with black, causing this color greatly to 

 predominate. 



As already stated, the long hairs of the body exhibit no sudden variations of color, except on the 

 posterior half of the back, where the central portion is whitish, the tips being red, giving 

 rise to a decided variegation of tint. Among the uniform hairs of the fore back and shoulders 

 are some that are entirely black, but these are only discernable on close examination. The 

 under fur along the back and upper part of the tail has a decided sooty tinge, which, however, 

 gradually passes on the sides into a dull yellowish white, like sheeps' wool. The tips of the 

 hairs of the under fur are colored to correspond with the region in which they occur. 



There is a variety of the red fox sometimes called the Sampson fox, in which the long hairs 



