86 THE COLISHE. 



name, rather than employ a trivial one which we deem misleading. 

 Indeed, this species appears to us to have affinities rather with the 

 South-American Canida than with its other Nearctic congeners, all of 

 which latter species and varieties are closely allied to, where they are not 

 specifically identical with, the Common Fox of Europe and Northern 

 Asia. Though spoken of as a "Virginian" animal, it has a very 

 southern range. There are specimens in the British Museum from 

 Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica, and it may thus be an animal 

 which has extended northwards from its original area. 



Canis mrglnianus appears to have been first made known, after Her- 

 nandez, by Catesby, who, in his ' Natural History of Carolina,' gives a 

 very bad figure and a few words as to its habits. Its scientific name 

 was bestowed by Schreber, although the work in which it appears is 

 dated a year later than Erxleben's, who nevertheless refers to Schreber's 

 name and to his (for its date) very tolerable figure. 



But the first really good representation is the coloured plate of 

 F. Cuvier, although it represents an immature individual. A good figure 

 of an adult animal appears to us still a desideratum, and this we have 

 endeavoured to supply by our Plate XX., which represents an individual 

 obtained from Texas. 



Two specimens from Santa Rosa Island appear to represent the small 

 form described as V. littoralis by Baird, but which we agree with our 

 late lamented friend, the very accomplished naturalist Mr. Alston, in 

 regarding as a mere variety of C. mrginianus. The American naturalist, 

 Mr. Allen, came to the same conclusion after comparing a variety of 

 specimens, declaring that the individuals were the smaller in size the 

 more southern their habitat. This species, indeed, seems to vary more 

 in size than in coloration, which, so far as we have observed, remains 

 pretty constant. Allen gives the length of the skull of a specimen 

 from Pennsylvania and of one from Yucatan as 4*77 and 3*74 respec- 

 tively, or a proportional difference of 127 to 100. 



The Colishe is said to be less enterprising and sagacious and more 

 timid than the Common Fox. It is more often caught in steel traps than 

 is the latter animal. It must also be less destructive to the farmer, as 

 Audubon never heard of any well-authenticated account of its entering 



