AMERICAN EED FOX. 85 



" Northern Zoology," p. 92 : " The Eed Fox burrows m 

 the summer, and in the winter takes shelter under a 

 fallen tree. It brings forth four young about the 

 beginning of May. They are covered at birth with a 

 soft downy fur, of a yellowish-grey colour, the orange- 

 coloured hair not beginning to appear until they are 

 five or six weeks old. Even the Indian hunters do not 

 know the cubs at an early age from those of the Cross 

 or Silver Foxes, and I therefore cannot now place the 

 reliance I was once induced to do on their report of 

 young Cross Foxes being found in the burrows of the 

 Eed Fox. 



" The Eed Foxes prey much on the smaller animals 

 of the rat family, but they are fond of fish, and reject 

 no kind of animal food which comes in their way. They 

 are taken in steel-traps, also in fall-traps, made of logs, 

 but much nicety is required in setting them, as the 

 animal is very suspicious. Some of the best Fox-hunters 

 in the fur countries ascribe their success to the use of 

 assafoetida, castoreum, and other strong-smelling sub- 

 stances, with which they rub their traps, and the small 

 twigs set up in the neighbourhood, alleging that Foxes 

 are fond of such perfume. The Eed Fox hunts for 

 its food chiefly in the night, but it is also frequently seen 

 in the daytime. In the winter-time their tracts are 

 most frequent on the borders of lakes, which they 

 quarter much like a pointer dog. 



" The Eed Fox does not possess the wind of its 

 English congener. It runs for about a hundred yards 

 with great swiftness, but its strength is exhausted in 

 the first burst, and it is soon overtaken by a Wolf or 

 mounted huntsman. Its flesh is ill-tasted, and is eaten 

 only through necessity." 



There is no reason to consider this Fox as distinct 



