VULPES. 149 



Size small. Limbs very slender. Tail shorter in proportion 

 than in typical foxes. 



Colour. Above rufescent grey, varying with the season and 

 locality from almost silver-grey to greyish rufous, minutely 

 speckled with white, the sides very much greyer than the back ; 

 lower parts whitish, usually pure white on the chin and throat, 

 pale rufous yellowish or creamy white on the lower breast and 

 abdomen, and more rufescent towards the vent. No cross band on 

 the shoulder. Dorsal fur sometimes white throughout, except at 

 the tip, but when long, in the cold season, white at the extreme 

 base, dusky or purplish slaty, with coarser white hairs intermixed, 

 for about one quarter to one third the length, then creamy white 

 or pale rufous but becoming darker gradually nearly to the end, 

 where there is a white ring followed by a ferruginous or black tip. 

 The fur on the lower parts is whitish throughout. The outer sur- 

 faces of the limbs are bright rufous ; there is a black spot on each 

 side of the muzzle in front of the eye ; the ears are grey outside, 

 whitish within. Tail grey, more or less rufescent above, many of 

 the hairs with black tips, and those at the end of the tail entirely 

 black, forming a sharply defined black tail-tip. 



Dimensions. Head and body about 20 inches, tail without the 

 hair at the end 11, with the hair 13 to 14, tarsus and hind foot 

 about 4. A skull is 4*15 inches in basal length, 2 - 5 broad across 

 the zygomatic arches ; a smaller 4 by 2-25. Weight about 7 Ibs. 

 (male's ?i to 8, females 5| to 6|). 



Distribution. Found commonly throughout India, except in 

 thick forest, from the base of the Himalayas to Cape Comorin, but 

 not recorded west of Sind and the Punjab, nor east of Assam, 

 where it is rare. Unknown in Burma. Its occurrence in Ceylon 

 is very doubtful ; Kelaart mentions a report of its existence in the 

 Badulla district, but evidently without placing any dependence on 

 the story. 



Habits. Jerdon's description of this animal's habits is excellent, 

 and is confirmed and supplemented by McMaster's notes. This 

 pretty little fox is familiar to many of the inhabitants of India, 

 being common in most open parts of the country, whether culti- 

 vated or waste, and being by no means shy, but frequently coming 

 into gardens and enclosures around houses. I have seen it on the 

 Maidan in Calcutta, and its cry may be heard there almost nightly 

 in the cold season. The sound, a little chattering bark, as Stern- 

 dale aptly calls it, consists of a sharp yelp quickly repeated three 

 or four times. 



The present species feeds less upon birds and more upon small 

 mammals, reptiles, and insects than its larger allies. It but rarely 

 carries off poultry. According to Sir Walter Elliot, it subsists 

 mainly on rats, land-crabs, grasshoppers, and beetles ; but Jerdon 

 has seen it hunting quail, and says that it doubtless kills youug 

 birds and eats eggs. He also remarks that lizards are a favourite 

 food with it, that it habitually eats fruit, such as ber (Zizyphm), 

 melons, &c., and occasionally pods and shoots of gram or channa 



