lOO LLOYDS NATURAL HISTORY. 



inner surface of the thighs, a narrow hne down the front of the 

 hind-legs, and the hinder and inner surfaces of the fore-legs, are 

 white. The front portion of the feet is black, that colour 

 extending upwards nearly to the elbow and knee ; the whiskers 

 are likewise black ; while the hair on the soles of the feet is 

 deep red, the claws being light brown. 



There are, however, certain racial or individual variations in 

 the colour even of the British Fox. Macgillivray, for instance, 

 observes that the largest race, " or that which occurs in the 

 Highland districts, has the fur of a stronger texture and of a 

 greyer tint, there being a greater proportion of whitish hairs on 

 the back and hind-quarters, while two or more inches of the end 

 of the tail are white. The Fox of the lower districts is consider- 

 ably smaller, more slender, of a lighter red, with the tail also 

 white at the end. Individuals of a smaller size, having the 

 head proportionately larger, the fur of a darker red, the lower 

 parts dusky or dull brownish-white, and the tip of the tail 

 either with little white or none, occur in the hilly parts of the 

 southern division of Scotland. The skull of the Highland Fox 

 appears remarkably large and strong beside that of the ordinary 

 kind, and the breadth is much greater in proportion." 

 Occasionally Foxes are killed in England with the tip of the 

 tail grey or black ; and a pure white Fox was killed in 1887 

 by the Taunton Vale Hounds, in the West Somerset country. Of 

 more interest is the circumstance that some time previous to 

 1864, a young Fox was killed in Warwickshire in which the 

 whole of the under parts were of a greyish-black hue. The 

 coloration of this individual resembled that obtaining in the 

 Foxes of Southern Europe ; and assuming it to have been a 

 native-bred animal, the occurrence of an individual of this 

 southern race in England is a matter of some importance from 

 a distributional point of view. In Wales, as Mr. W. E. de 

 Winton tell? rae, a blackish-brown form of Fox sometimes 

 Qccurji. 



