90 MAMMALIA. FEILE. 



spots of black, brown, and white. Size of the European wolf, 

 -Inhabits the South of Africa. 



This species forms the type of a genus, according to Mr Brookes, under the name 

 of Lycaon. 



C. Antarctica.?, Shaw, Desm. Fur reddish ; tail at base red, mid- 

 dle black, tip white. Falkland Islands. Penn. Quad. t. 29. 



C. cancrivorus, Desm. Fur ash-coloured, waved with black above, 

 yellowish white underneath. Guiana Buff. Sup. vii. pi. 38. 



C. aureus, Lin. The Chacal or Jackal. Yellowish gray above, 

 whitish below ; tail bristly, black at the extremity. Inhabits the 

 warmer parts of the Old Continent Buff. Sup. vi. pi. 16. 



C. corsac, Lin. Fur gray fawn-colour above, yellowish white be- 

 neath ; tail very long, black at the tip. Inhabits deserts of 

 Tartary Buff. Sup. iii. pi. 17- 



C. mesomelas, Desm. The Cape Chacal. Fur fulvous brown, with 

 a triangular blackish gray patch from the shoulders to the tail ; 

 tail touching the ground. Cape of Good Hope. Shaw, i. pi. 79. 



C. anthus, Desm. Fur gray, sprinkled with yellow spots ; tail 

 fawn-coloured, with a longitudinal black line at its base. Inha- 

 bits Senegal F. Cuv. Mam. xvii. 



* * FOXES Pupils of the eyes long ; tail long and bushy. 



C. vulpes, Lin. The common Fox. Fur fawn-coloured above, 

 white beneath ; behind the ears black ; tail bushy and terminat- 

 ed by black hairs. Inhabits the Northern parts of the Old and 

 New Continent. Shaw, 



Var. A. C. alopex. Fur thicker, and of a deeper red. 



Var. B C. crucigera. With a black cruciform mark across the shoulders and 



down the spine. 



The fox is one of the most widely distributed animals, and is found in all the 

 temperate and northern regions of the old and new world. With one exception the 

 structure of the eye, the organization of the fox and dog are similiar. The pupil 

 contracts in a strong light, and assumes a circular form only during twilight or at 

 night. Hence the fox preys by night ; and notwithstanding the persecution he un- 

 dergoes, the extreme cunning of the fox, which has become proverbial, enables him 

 to preserve his race where other animals would have been extirpated. The fox 

 passes the day in his hiding-place, and sallies forth at night along the fields to sur- 

 prise the partridge on her nest, or the hare in her form. He lies in ambush near the 

 burrows of rabbits, and when game of this description fails, he approaches the farm- 

 yards and carries off the poultry, or feeds on the refuse of the kitchen. Distrustful 

 to excess, he is not to be deceived by the snares which may be laid for him ; and the 

 severest hunger will not prompt him to approach a bait which may lead him into a 

 snare. Gestation continues from sixty to sixty-four days ; at three or four months 

 the young foxes quit their burrow ; and at two years their growth is completed. 



C. lagopus, Lin. The Arctic Fox. Fur very long, thick and soft, 



uniformly ash-coloured or brown in summer, white in winter. 



Inhabits the Arctic Regions Bewick, Quad. 

 C. argentatus, Desm. Silvery Fox. Fur soot black, spotted or 



shaded with white ; extremity of the tail white. Inhabits North 



America and Asia* F. Cuv. Mam. v. 



