20 



1875. Urocyon cinereo-argervtatus, (Schreb.) Coues. Report Geolog. and 

 Geogr. Expl. and Surveys West lOOdth Meridian, 1S75, 66. Jor- 

 dan, Man. Vert., 1878, 17, 2d edition. 



Specific Characters. — Head and body a little over two feet in length : 

 tail rather more than half as long ; stiff, T?ith a concealed mane of bristly 

 hairs. Prevailing color mixed hoary and black; convexity and base of 

 ears, side of neck and edges of bellj', and more or less of the outer sur- 

 faces of the limb?, rich fulvous or cinamon brown; muzzle banded with 

 black, extending on the chin ; lower half of head, tip of chin, and sides 

 of muzzle at end white ; tail hoary on the si les, a stripe above, and the 

 tip black ; rusty below. 



The Gray Pox is about as large as the Red Fox. The length is about 

 twenty-eight inches; tail, to end of vertebrse, thirtesn to sixteen irches, 

 to end of hairs, fourteen to eighteen inches; ears two and a half inches 

 higli ; hind foot iiv..' inches; skull four and a half to four and two-thirds 

 by two and a third to two and two-thirds inches. 



This fox is not subject to the remarkable variations of color'already 

 observed ih the Red Fox. Different specimens vary in ths shade of the 

 grizzled grayish back, exact color-pattern of the black and vrhite on the 

 head, extent and intensity of the fulvous on the neck, flank and litnbs ; 

 it is always distingui-ihable by its colors, however, aside from the differ- 

 ences in build, crdnium c;nd general appearance. 



The Gray Fox occurs in Oregon, Texas, and California, and with the 

 Red extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It is not common in New 

 England, and only accidental in Mair.e and Canada. It is more southern 

 than the Red Fox, being the prevailing species from Virginia south -ward. 



Taking naturally to the woodlands, and shunning the pLiiu?, there 

 are, of course, extensive areas on its ordinarj- parallels where it may 

 never be met, although prevalent on either side of such treeless regions. 

 Coues and Yarrow (Znijl. Expl. W. lOOdth Meridian), from whom the 

 subsequent note on the comparative habits of the Gray and Red is quoted, 

 consider the present species the characteristic fox of Arizona, being 

 much more abundant than the Red. 



" Sharing vulpine traits with its kind, the Gray Fox has, nevertheless, 

 its peculiarities. It is not a burrowing animal, at least to any great ex- 

 tent; and when it digs, the burrow is simple, with a single entrance. It 

 lies concealed in rank herbage, beneath or inside fallen logs, under par- 

 tially excavated stumps, and similar retreats. This habit is in evident 

 correlation with its woodland range, for, having no such protection as 

 the Red Fnx, which takes to the earth any where, it is forced to abide 

 where there are the natural means of concealment just mentioned. This 



