CARNARIA. CARNIVORA. 



65 



is in reality most short-sighted. To shade himself 

 as much as possible from the light, he hides himself 

 in burrows during the day, and prowls abroad in full 

 possession of his perceptive faculties under the in- 

 fluence of a clouded night." To the same cause may 

 be attributed the crouching posture, trailing the 

 belly nearly on the ground, in which they habitually 

 move, so different from the bold and fearless march 

 of the Dog. 



The notoriety of our own species, the object of 

 sporting ambition, (Vulpes Vulgaris,} renders any spe- 

 cific description superfluous ; and most of the foreign 

 species, the North American ones especially, (V.Ful- 

 vus, V. Cinereo-argenteus, V. Decussatus, and V. Ar- 

 gentatus,) are too much like our own, to need it. 

 There are one or two in Africa, however, which are 

 marked by the great developement of their ears, the 

 smallness of their size, and the paleness of their 

 colour. 



