210 THE FOX 



white hairs take their place ; but there are many 

 shades between pure white and the slaty blue of the 

 summer coat to be found in different individuals. 

 The blue-fox skin is much more valuable than 

 the white pelts, which, though thick, are somewhat 

 coarse. This fox lives in the Arctic circle and in 

 Europe is never found below 6o° N. Like the other 

 foxes, this one feeds on anything it can pick up : 

 lemmings, water birds, especially eider ducks and 

 their eggs, young seals, and the carcases left by the 

 killers. Like our own red fox, the Arctic fox does 

 not object to its venison being high. 



The next animal is quite a distinct species from 

 the common fox or the Arctic. Known as Cants 

 Virginianus to naturalists, as the grey fox in 

 Virginia, as the Tigrillo in Costa Rica, as Zozzo 

 by the Mexicans, and to the Indians as the Colishe, 

 this species claims notice here because it is a beast 

 of chase. 



Cam's Virginianus is more like a jackal than a fox. 

 It varies in size according to the locality it is found 

 in, but the markings are pretty much the same in 

 each individual. The grey fox of Virginia hunts its 

 prey by scent, and may perhaps represent a line from 

 which our pointers may have descended. The grey 

 fox when hunting for South American partridges 



