FQXffi. 421 



pean congener. It is very prolific, and brings forth from 

 four to eight young in its burrow, about the latter end of 

 March. 



The arctic or stone fox (V. lagopus) is very common in 

 Alaska and the northern parts of British America. It is 

 considered to be the most valuable member of its family 

 when attired in its winter coating of white, its skin being 

 valued all the way from fifty to two hundred dollars, and 

 sometimes more. 



The most common colors of this specimen in summer 

 are blue, gray, and white, the former predominating. This 

 handsome creature is one of the most prolific of its family, 

 its litter often numbering from ten to fourteen youngsters. 

 It has been introduced on several of the largo islands on 

 the Alaska Coast by the Russian American Fur Company, 

 and they take excellent care that it is not destroyed with- 

 out their consent. Its striking and strange hue seems to 

 be a slate color tinged with darkish purple, and this is one 

 reason why its fur is so highly prized ; but, besides that, is 

 the fact that it is also very fine, soft, and dense, and there- 

 fore makes excellent lining for cloaks or beautiful carriage 

 robes. In its island home this creature lives on sea-birds 

 and their eggs, and the carcasses of seals or fish washed 

 ashore by the waves. 



A fox that differs in many ways from its kindred, the 

 red species, is the gray or mane-tailed fox. It differs from 

 it, in fact, more than the latter does from the wolf. 



The common red fox has a thoroughly canine skull, a 

 long muzzle, and a tail uniformly haired : but the gray has 

 a comparatively short muzzle, a short and broad head, and 

 the brush has a hidden mane of stiff hairs along the upper 

 side. While it is as large as the common species, it is 

 more stoutly built, and its tail is not so cylindrical. It 

 may be readily known by its grayish color, even if a per- 

 son did not notice its peculiarity in form, physiognomy, 

 and its rounded skull. It is literally a woodland animal, 

 for it carefully shuns open ground. Its favorite haunts are 

 in the Southern States, but it is very common in California, 



