562 CARNIVORES. 



Dr. Ellzey, when contrasting the habits of the grey fox with the red American 

 variety of the common species, observes that the two animals differ very widely 

 in these respects. " So far as -aiy personal observations inform me," he says, 

 " the following are some of the principal distinctions. First, as to reproduction, 

 the red fox nearlj- always brings forth its young in an earth den, the gi'ey fox 

 generally in a hollow log or tree, or, at most, under a rock. The last one I found 

 with her 3'oung was a gi'ey. The young, only a few hours old, were in the hollow 

 stump of an old rotten tree, broken off about five feet high. As I came up, the old 

 one jumped out of the top of the stump, and ran ofi". I looked down the hole, and 

 saw at the bottom five young ones, scarcely dry. I have seldom seen a grey with 

 more than five, and often with only four J'oung. I never found a red with less 

 than five. I have seen one with nine, and several with seven. I think it certain, 

 therefore, that the reds are more prolific. Second, as to hunting for prey and 

 subsistence. The reds are bolder in pui-suit, and hunt over a much greater territory 

 than the greys. 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 run hard by hounds. I 

 think it nearly certain that they climb for persimmons and grapes. Bed foxes 

 never climb trees under any circumstances : when hard run they go to earth. 

 Grey foxes run before hounds on]\' a short distance, doubling constantly and for 

 a short time, when they either hole in a tree, or climb one. I have known the red 

 fox to run straight away nearly twenty miles. Very commonly they run eight or 

 ten miles away, and then run back in a parallel course. I have known them to run 

 the four sides of a quadrilateral, nine or ten miles long by about two miles broad. 

 It is doxibtful whether a first-rate specimen of the red fox, taken at his best in 

 point of condition, can either be killed or run to earth by any pack of hounds 

 living, such are his matchless speed and endurance. It is but a sorry pack which 

 fails to kill or tree a grey fox in an hour's run. The young of the grey fox closely 

 resemble small blackish puppies ; those of the i-ed fox are distinctly vulpine in 

 physiognomj'^ when only a few hours old." 



The smallest and prettiest of the North American species is the 



Kit Fox 



kit fox (C. velox), which derives its Latin name from its extraordinary 

 fleetness. In this fox the length of the head and body is only 24 inches, and that 

 of the tail, without the hair, 9 inches. The animal is characterised by the shortness 

 and stoutness of its limbs, standing relatively lower than the common fox, and also 

 by the bushy tail being less than half the length of the body. The thickly-furred 

 ears are also relatively shorter than in the common fox. Another distinctive 

 character is the length and abundance of the under-fur, which is often visible 

 externally, and also by the long hairs clothing the soles of the feet. In colour the 

 kit fox is somewhat variable, but a specimen described and figured by Professor 

 Mivart has the back and tail dark grey, mingled with black-and-white hairs, the 

 tip of the tail black, the cheeks, shoulders, flanks, and the outer surfaces of the 

 limbs rufous, and the under-parts white. The kit fox is confined to North- Western 

 America, where it inhabits open treeless districts, constructing its own burrows in 

 the ground. It Avas formerly abundant on the plains of Columbia, and also in those 

 lying between the Saskatchewan and the Missouri rivers, but it has of late years 

 considerably decreased in numbers. 



