MAMMALS CANIDAE VULPUS MACROURUS. 



131 



The tail is very full and densely hairy ; it is long, though perhaps not exceeding that of the 

 red fox in proportion. When the lateral hairs of opposite sides are extended, the distance 

 between their tips measures from seven and a half to eight and a half inches, instead of the 

 six or seven and a half, as in the common red fox. The longest hairs measure about four 

 inches. The longest hairs of the back and sides exceed four inches in length. 



The colors of this species are very similar to those of the corresponding varieties of the red 

 fox. In the light variety the prevailing tint is rather a pale ochre yellow than a red, whence 

 the species might with great propriety be called the yellow fox. The yellow is brightest 

 anteriorly on the sides ; there is, however, a wash of reddish along the dorsal line. The hinder 

 part of the back is variegated with yellowish white, this color annulating the long hairs, which 

 are otherwise black at the base and rufous at tip. The under fur is everywhere plumbeous at 

 base, and of a chestnut color terminally along the dorsal line, changing through ochre yellow 

 to yellowish white on the sides. There is, however, a darker yellowish cross on the shoulders, 

 separating the yellowish white of the side of body and neck. The upper part of the head is 

 grizzled like the lower part of the back. The throat, chest, and under parts generally, 

 including the whole belly and inside of legs and thighs are of a clear, yellowish-white, without 

 any red, the plumbeous base of the wool showing occasionally through. The amount of white 

 is thus greater than in the red fox. The base of the ears is yellow ; the greater portion, how 

 ever, of their convexity is uniform black. The tail is of a duller yellow than the body, lighter 

 on the sides, the long hairs tipped with black, clouding the* tail with this color ; the tip of the 

 tail is entirely yellowish-white. The fore feet are black ; on the hind feet, however, this color 

 only extends in a narrow line on the anterior face. 



The following table of measurements can be only considered as approximate, as the specimens 

 are all hunters' skins, and do not preserve their original proportions. 



Measurements. 



The fresh measurement of No. 1007 gives two feet as the total length ; the others are the 

 same as in the dried skin. I have, however, given the present length as skin for the purpose 

 of more readily making the comparison. Number 24 is a cross fox, the others are red foxes. 



The specimen No. A is in the collection of Captain Stansbury, now deposited in the Patent 

 Office, and served as the basis of the description of the species in Captain Stansbury's report. 

 This report was published in May, 1852, and extra copies of the zoological portion were 

 distributed as a separate work in June, 1852, and bearing this date. On almost the last day 

 of June, a notice of this same species, under the name of Vulpes utah, was presented to the 

 Academy of Natural Sciences, and published about the middle of July, more than a month 



