MAMMALIA OF N. GREENLAND AND GRINNELL LAND. 319 
are very different to the snow-white skins which we usually 
associate with Arctic Foxes. The hair on the back and brush 
is of a dirty rufous tinge, on the belly yellowish white. The flora 
in the neighbourhood of this den was wonderfully rich, the soil 
having been fertilized by the presence of the Foxes. Several 
Saxifrages, a Stellaria, a Draba or two, and two or three kinds 
of grass were in bloom, and the yellow blossom of the Potentilla 
brightened the spot. As we rested there, many little Lemmings 
popped up from their holes, and undismayed by our presence 
commenced feeding on the plants. We noticed that many dead 
Lemmings were scattered around. In every case they had been 
killed in the same manner, the sharp canine teeth of the Foxes 
had penetrated the brain. Presently we came upon two Ermines 
killed in the same manner: these were joyful prizes, for up to this 
time we had not obtained these animals in northern Grinnell 
Land. Then to our surprise we discovered numerous deposits of 
dead Lemmings. In one out-of-the-way corner under a rock we 
pulled out a heap of over fifty dead Lemmings. We disturbed 
numerous “caches” of twenty and thirty, and the ground was honey- 
combed with holes that each contained several bodies of these 
little animals, a small quantity of earth being placed over them. 
In one hole we found the major part of a Hare carefully hidden 
away. The wings of young Brent Geese, Bernicla brenta, were 
also lying about; and as these birds were at that date only just 
hatching, it showed that they must have been the results of suc- 
cessful forays of prior seasons, and that consequently the Foxes 
occupy the same abodes from year to year. 1 had long wondered 
how the Arctic Fox existed during the winter. Prof. Newton 
had already suggested, in his ‘Notes on the Zoology of Spitz- 
bergen, that the Fox probably made some provision for winter 
sustenance, and | was much pleased by finding these large deposits 
of dead Lemmings and other animals, unquestionably bearing out 
the same views. It is also a very beautiful arrangement that the 
increased flora induced by the presence of the Foxes should be 
the means of attracting and sustaining the Lemmings in the im- 
mediate vicinity of the Foxes’ den. The Arctic Fox, although 
I subsequently saw a second pair in the same neighbourhood, 
may be considered somewhat rare in the northern part of Grinnell 
Land. The specimens obtained did uot differ in size from those 
killed further south. 
