GRAY FOX. 



163 



There are slight differences in the colour of different specimens ; we 

 will, however, give a description of one which is of the colour most com- 

 mon to this species in every part of the United States. Head, brownish- 

 gray ; muzzle, black ; a broad patch of dark brown runs from the eye to 

 the nose, on each side of the face ; whiskers, black ; inner surface of ears, 

 dull white ; outer surface of ears, sides of neck, outer surface of fore-legs 

 and thighs, tawny ; a yellowish wash under the throat, and along the 

 sides ; chin, and around the mouth, dark-brown ; cheeks, throat, and un- 

 der surface of body, dull white, occasionally tinged vv^ith a yellowish 

 shade ; under surface of hind and fore-feet, yellowish-brown : upper sur- 

 face of feet and legs, grizzly black and white ; nails, dark-brown. The 

 soft inner fur on the back, which is about an inch and a half long, is for 

 half its length from the roots, plumbeous, and pale yellowish- white at the 

 tips. The long hairs which give the general colour to the body above, 

 are whit,', at their roots, then for more than a third of their length black,' 

 then white, and are broadly tipped with black, giving the animal a hoary 

 or silver-gray appearance. It is darkest on the shoulder, along the back 

 and posterior parts. The fur on the tail, has a little more fulvous tinge 

 than that of the back ; the longer hairs are much more broadly tipped 

 with black. When the fur lies smooth, there is a black line along the 

 upper surface of the tail from the root to the extremity ; end of brush, 

 black. Some specimens are a little lighter coloured, having a silver-gray 

 appearance. Specimens from the State of New York are rather more 

 fulvous on the neck, and darker on the back, than those of Carolina. In 

 some specimens there is a dark spot on the sides of the throat about an 

 inch from the ear. 



We possessed for many j'ears a beautiful specimen of a variety of the 

 Gray Fox, which was barred on the tail like the racoon, and had a dark 

 cross on the back like that of Canis crucigera of Gesn'er, which latter is 

 regarded by Baron Cuvier as a mere variety of the European fox. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Length of head and body 

 " of tail (vertebrae) . 

 " " to end of hair 



Height of ear 



From heel to end of nail . 



28 inches. 

 12i do. 

 14 do. 



2§ do. 



S do, 



