THE FOX. 19 



Kit Fox of North America. The skins of the Silver, Kit, 

 Cross, and Red Foxes, are annually imported from Hudson's 

 Bay in considerable numbers. That of the Silver Fox is 

 six times as valuable as any fur obtained in North America. 

 It is black, tipped with silvery white. 



The Arctic Fox inhabits the countries bordering on the 

 Frozen Sea. In some of these countries it burrows and 

 makes holes in the ground several feet in length, at the end 

 of which it forms a nest of moss ; but in other countries it 

 lives in the cleft of rocks, being unable to burrow on ac- 

 count of the frost. Two or three of these creatures live in 

 the same hole. 



The Arctic Fox has all the cunning of the common one ; 

 it preys on young geese, ducks, and other water fowl, be- 

 fore they are able to fly, as well as on hares, birds, and 

 eggs ; and in Greenland, for want of other food, it feeds on 

 berries and shell-fish. In Lapland and the north of Asia 

 its principal food is the Leming or Lapland Marmot, which 

 are very numerous in that country. The Foxes follow 

 them, as they go from one place to another, and (as the re- 

 turn of the Marmot is very uncertain, and frequently after 

 great intervals of time) they are sometimes absent for three 

 or four years in pursuit of this their favorite prey. The 

 hair of the Arctic Fox is of an ash color, but changes to 

 white in winter, when it is long, soft, and somewhat woolly : 

 its tail is shorter than that of the common Fox, and it is 

 also more bushy ; its nose is sharp and black, and its ears 

 short and almost hid in the fur. It is sometimes taken in 

 traps, but its skin is of little value. 



