104 



THE KIT FOX. 



CANI8 VELOX. 



Canis velox, Say, in Long's Expedition to Rocky Mountains, vol. i. 

 p. 487 (1823) ; Harlan, Fauna Americana, p. 91 (1825); 

 Max. Wied, Reise Nord-Amer. vol. ii. pp. 44 & 256 (1841). 



Canis cinereo-argentatus, Sabine in Franklin's Journ. p. 658. 



Canis microtus, Reichenbach, Regnum Animale, i. 10, figs. 72 & 73 ; id. 

 Universum des Thierreichs, vol. i. p. 43 (1816) ; Wagner, 

 Wiegmann's Archiv, vol. iii. 1837, p. 162. 



Canis (Vulpes) cinereo-argentatus, Richardson, Fauna Boreali- American a, 

 p. 98. 



Vulpes velox, Audubon and Bachman, Quadrupeds of North America, 

 vol. ii. p. 13, plate 52 (1851) ; Baird, Mammals of North 

 America, p. 133 (1857) ; Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1868, 

 p. 519, pi. 34; id. Catalogue of Carnivorous Mammalia, 

 p. 206. 



Kit Fox, Lewes and Clarke's Travels, vol. ii. 



THE Kit Fox is one of the most elegant and attractive of the whole family 

 of the Canida, and is also much the smallest of all those found in North 

 America. It was first clearly identified and unequivocally named by 

 Say. Schreber and subsequently J. A. Wagner seem to have confused 

 this animal with C. virginianus. The figure given by Schreber 

 (Theil ii. plate 92 A) certainly cannot be taken to represent, and the 

 appellations bestowed by these naturalists cannot be recognized as 

 appertaining to, the present species, 



Say was led to apply to it the name velox through having been 

 struck with its extraordinary swiftness, when he had opportunities of 

 observing it run with the antelope and comparing their velocities. Its 

 movement has been compared to that of a bird skimming the surface of 



