94 THE ARCTIC FOX AND THE FENNEC. 



dominate over the body, except at the tip, which is white. The height 

 of this animal is about a foot, and its length about two feet and a half, 

 exclusive of the tail. 



One of the most celebrated species of the Foxes is the Arctic Fox, 

 called by the Russians Peszi, and by the Greenlanders Terrienniak. 

 This animal is in very great repute in the mercantile world on account 

 of its beautiful silky fur, which in the cold winter months becomes per- 

 fectly white. During the summer the fur is generally of a gray or 

 dirty brown, but is frequently found of a leaden gray, or of a brown 

 tint with a wash of blue. Toward the change of the season the fur 

 becomes mottled, and by reason of this extreme variableness has caused 

 the animal to be known by several different titles. Sometimes it is 

 called the White Fox, sometimes the Blue Fox, sometimes the Sooty 

 Fox, sometimes the Pied Fox, and sometimes the Stone Fox. 



This animal is found in Lapland, Iceland, Siberia, Kamtschatka, 

 and North America, in all of which places it is eagerly sought by the 

 hunters for the sake of its fur. The pure white coat of the winter sea- 

 son is the most valuable, and the bluish-gray fur of the summer months 

 is, next to the white, the color that is most in request. 



In size the Arctic Fox is not the equal of the English species, weigh- 

 ing only eight pounds on an average, and its total length being about 

 three feet. The eye is of a hazel tint, and very bright and intelligent. 

 It lives in burrows, which it excavates in the earth during the summer 

 months, and prefers to construct its simple dwellings in small groups 

 of twenty or thirty. 



The Fennec, or Zerda, is an inhabitant of Africa, being found in 

 Nubia and Egypt. It is a very pretty and lively little creature, run- 

 ning about with much activity, and anon sitting upright and regarding 

 the prospect with marvellous gravity. The color of the Fennec is a 

 very pale fawn or " Isabel " color, sometimes being almost of a creamy 

 whiteness. The tail is bushy, and partakes of the general color of the 

 fur, except at the upper part of the base and the extreme tip, which are 

 boldly marked with black. The size of the adult animal is very incon- 

 siderable, as it measures scarcely more than a foot in length, exclusive 

 of the bushy tail, which is about eight inches long. 



It is said that the Fennec, although it is evidently a carnivorous 

 animal, delights to feed upon various fruits, especially preferring the 

 date. Such a predilection is according to vulpine and canine analogies, 

 for the common English Fox is remarkably fond of ripe fruits, such as 

 grapes or strawberries, and the domestic dog is too often a depredator 

 of those very gardens which he was enjoined to keep clear from robbers. 

 But that the animal should enjoy the power of procuring that food in 

 which it so delights is a very extraordinary circumstance, and one 

 which would hardly be expected from a creature which partakes so 



