THE DESERT FOX 

 Canis famelicus, De Wint. 



Somali name, Dawa'o 



De Winton's description of this fox is as follows : " Fur very 

 long, soft and dense ; general colour soft fawn more or less inter- 

 spersed with coarser grizzled hairs often giving it a steel blue tint. 

 Ears very long, rich fawn colour ; the face paler, yellowish buff 

 with strong brown patches immediately above the whiskers, the 

 dark colour slightly modified, encircles the eyes. Along the dorsal 

 line the fur is redder than on the sides, the underfur being grey 

 tipped with reddish brown. There are reddish patches on the 

 back of the hindlegs above the heel. The tail is very thick and 

 bushy along its whole length with a very distinct white tag." 



MEASUREMENTS of a female obtained near Berbera by Dr. 

 Atkinson are : 



Head and body . . . . ' ,. . 445 mm. 



Tail . . -., . . . . . 345 



Hindfoot : ., . . ... . . , 122 



Ear . . . . . . * ". 100 



DISTRIBUTION. This fox, as far as I know, is only found on 

 the maritime plain near Berbera, but it probably extends right 

 along the coast eastwards. 



HABITS. The only ones I have seen a family of four are, I 

 fancy, still to be found on one of the small sugarloaf hills on the 

 maritime plain within two or three miles of Berbera. On chasing 

 one of these foxes one day I followed it to the top of a low conical 

 rocky hill on the summit of which there was an enormous slab of 

 stone ; under this stone lived a small family of these foxes. Strewn 

 around the entrance were bones of every description, human as 

 well as animal, but it is difficult to say whether or not these foxes 

 were responsible for the collection. 



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