72 MAMMALIA ORDER IV.CARNIVORA. 



tip of the tail, are so scarce that they fetch from 50 to 70 in the market. 

 It thus appears that an animal may vary in colour from foxy-red above, with 

 white under-parts and tail-tip and black limbs and ears, to one in which the 

 whole of the fur is black save the tip of the tail, and yet belong to one and 

 the same species. 



No account of the distribution of the common fox would be complete with- 

 out some reference to the fact that it is one of the very oldest of our British 

 Mammals, its fossilised remains having been dug up in the topmost beds of the 

 so called red crag of the Suffolk coast. These deposits far ante-date the river 

 gravels and cavern-mud in which occur the remains of the mammoth and other 

 gigantic extinct Mammals ; and it will thus be evident that this extreme 

 antiquity of the British fox will readily account for its present unusually wide 

 geographical distribution. 



Before taking leave of the common fox and its numerous varieties we may 

 refer to the circumstance that there has been much discussion as to whether 

 badgers are hurtful to young foxes. As the result of these it appears that the 

 charge against the badger has been effectually disproved, more than one 

 writer recounting instances where fox and badger-cubs have been brought up 

 in amity as inhabitants of the same earth. In spite, however, of this, it 

 appears that there is still, at least in some districts, war waged by sportsmen, 

 against the unfortunate badger. 



With regard to North American foxes, it may be observed that in addition 

 to the red and cross-fox, the so-called grey fox or Virginian fox (C. mrginianus) 

 is largely hunted with hounds in some parts of the States. This fox is much 

 smaller than the European species, the length of its head and body being 

 only about 19 inches, in place of some 24 inches. It is further distin- 

 guished by its relatively shorter muzzle, and also by the presence of a ridge 

 of long stiff hairs running along the middle of the upper part of the tail. 

 The general colour of this fox, as its common name implies, is some shade of 

 grey ; but there is considerable individual variation in this respect, and some 

 specimens show a more or less marked reddish tinge. If an English hunts- 

 man were to see his quarry suddenly rush straight up the trunk of a tree in 

 the midst of a run, his astonishment would certainly be great, yet we are 

 assured by American writers that tree-climbing is a frequent habit of the grey 

 fox. Thus Dr. EHzey writes in Shields' "Big Game of North America," that 

 " whether the greys ever climb trees in pursuit of prey I am uncertain ; but 

 they take to a tree as readily as a cat, when hard run by hounds. I think it 

 nearly certain that they climb for persimmons, grapes, and berries. Red 

 foxes never climb trees under any circumstances ; when hard run they go to 

 earth." If the above explanation of this curious habit is the trus one, it 

 would seem that grapes are not sour to the grey fox. Grey foxes alFord but 

 a poor run in comparison with the common species, their course only holding 

 for a short distance, and that accompanied by many doublings ; while the run 

 usually terminates either by the capture of a fox within an hour, or by the 

 animal either climbing a tree or taking refuge in a hole of the same. On the 

 other hand, the American red fox runs as strongly as his European relative ; 

 his course, it is said, generally taking the form of a large parallelogram. The 

 cubs of the grey fox have been compared to small black puppies, and are thus 

 very different in appearance from those of our own species. A second North 

 American species is the kit-fox (C. velox), which is still smaller than the 

 grey, its brush being only about 11 inches in length, against 1G inches in 

 the latter. Above. thi fox is light grey, with an admixture of long white 



