MAMMALS CANIDAE VULPES LITTORALIS. 



143 



List of specimens. 



VULPES (UROCYON) LITTORALIS, Baird. 



(oust Fox, Short-tailed Fox. 



SP. CH. Scarcely more than half the size of the common gray fox (Vulpes virginiunus) . Tail one-third the length of body. 

 Above, hoary and black ; sides of neck, fore legs, and lower part of sides, dull cinnamon ; chin and sides of muzzle, black. 

 Tail with a concealed mane of stiff hairs, and with a black stripe above. 



This very curious fox, the smallest of all the North American species, was brought by Lieut. 

 Trowbridge from the island of San Miguel, on the coast of California, where quite a number of 

 specimens were seen. It is stated by Lieut. Trowbridge to be very tame, scarcely taking the 

 trouble to get out of the way, and when escaped from a trap, returning directly to the same 

 place. His men found no difficulty in outrunning these foxes in a fair race, although it is 

 possible, that owing to th'eir unusual tameness, their full powers were not exerted. 



The species is a miniature of the common gray fox of the United States, and so closely like it 

 in external appearance as to induce the belief of its being possibly a local race. Gray foxes 

 from the main land of California are, however, of full size, and there are some differences of 

 importance in the skull and teeth. As is well known, also, many species of foxes of different 

 regions resemble each other so closely that it is very difficult to separate them more closely, 

 indeed, than the present fox and the common gray species. 



The Vulpes littoralis is scarcely more than half the size of the common gray fox, in length 

 and height, in fact, exceeded by some common house cats. The body, however, is considerably 

 stouter than in the house cat. The limbs are short, slender, and weak. The tail in the 

 specimen before me is very short, not more than one-third the length of the head and body. It 

 has probably lost some of the terminal vertebrae at an early age, although the tip is now covered 

 with hair. Two living specimens in captivity are said by Lieut. Trowbridge to possess this 

 same brevity of tail. 



As already stated, the colors are similar to those of the common gray fox. The upper parts 



