THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FOX 5 



country a fox travelling up a furrow is almost in- 

 distinguishable from the surrounding earth. Another 

 variation of colouring is in the white tag to the tail or 

 brush. Some foxes have it, others are without it. It 

 was believed, and perhaps some people still think, that 

 only dog foxes have the white tag. As a matter of fact 

 I do not know that it is more common in one sex than 

 the other. But these old beliefs are not as a rule 

 without foundation, and I should not wonder if there 

 proved to be a majority of dog foxes among the white- 

 tagged ones although we have no figures to go upon. 

 It is not surprising to find many abnormal colours 

 in a race so variable. White foxes are not indeed 

 common but are fairly frequent. In 1898 a white fox 

 was seen in the Roborough Woods, a covert belong- 

 ing to the Stevenstone (Hon. Mark Rolle's) country. 

 There has been one white fox killed in Essex, and 

 two in Somersetshire, one of the latter being pre- 

 served at Cothelestone Hall, 1 near Taunton. There 

 was also an instance in Kincardineshire ; but this 

 fox is believed to have come ashore from the wreck 

 of a Norwegian vessel and was probably an Arctic fox 

 (C. lagopus) which is one of a species distinct from 

 our common fox. Black foxes also are reported from 



1 Mr. C. J. Esdaile, of Cothelestone Hall, tells me that he 

 knew this fox from the time when it was a cub. 



