134; THO COMMON FOX. 



In the mountainous parts of Great Britain there 

 are, according to Mr. Pennant, three varieties of 

 the Fox. These differ from each other a little in 

 form, but not much either in their colour or in 

 their general habits of life. They are, 



1. The Greyhound Fox, which is the largest, 

 and most courageous of the whole, with a white 

 tip to its tail. 



2. The Mastiff-Fox, smaller in size, but more 

 strongly built than the former, with also a white tip 

 to its tail. 



3. The Cur-Fox, the smallest of the three, with 

 a black tip to its tail. This, in many parts of our 

 island, is more common than either of the others. 



I feel some difficulty in regarding the latter 

 animal as a variety of the Common Fox. The 

 only specific character which Linnaeus has given 

 us of Canis Alopex, is, that it is smaller, and 

 somewhat darker, than the Common Fox; and 

 that its tail is tipped with Hack. Whether our 

 Cur-Fox be the Brant Fox of America is another 

 point. In the Arctic Zoology we are told that 

 it certainly is not; and that the British Fox, with 

 a black tip to its tail, is not known in America. 

 But, since Linnseus hasr made the tip of the tail 

 the mark of discrimination, I cannot help feeling 

 an inclination to consider the Cur-Fox as a dis- 

 tinct species. The criterion, as Dr. Shaw justly 



observes 



