NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Maternal care The Arctic Fox. * 



length compelled to leave to the ferocity of her 

 pursuers. 



The females produce once a year, and have 1 

 from three to six at a time. If the dam perceive 

 the place of her retreat to be discovered, she 

 carries off her CUDS to a more secure asylum. 

 The young are brought forth blind, like pup- 

 pies; and are of a darkish brown colour. Foxes 

 grow till they are eighteen months old, and live 

 thirteen or fourteen years. In the winter season, 

 these animals make an almost continual yelping; 

 but in summer, when they shed their hair, they 

 are generally silent. 



THE ARCTIC FOX 



IS smaller than the common species ; and of a 

 blueish-grey colour, which sometimes changes to 

 white. The hair is remarkably thick and soft. 

 The nose is sharp; and the ears are short, and 

 almost concealed in the fur. The tail also is 

 shorter and more bushy than that of the common 

 fox. These animals are only found in the Arctic 

 regions near the Polar Circle, and in the islands 

 of the Frozen and Eastern Oceans, where they 

 are extremely numerous. 



In winter these animals usually bury themselves 

 in the snow, where they lie as long as it conti 

 jaues of a sufficient depth ; and they are said to 



