THE MAMMALS OF THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 849 



On the hillside to the west of the Lagoon and over toward Lukauin I frequently 

 heard the harsh bark of the fox proceeding from among the piles of rock, and here 

 and there the little brown head of a cub would appear at the mouth of a burrow. 

 All about these burrows were scattered fragments of sea birds' bones, of skulls and 

 limbs of fur-seal pups, and other similar relics of repasts. Once I observed a fox 

 trotting along toward its burrow with a fresh fur-seal placenta in its mouth, and foxes 

 may be frequently seen on the outskirts of the rookeries hunting for placentas. 



During the summer all these articles, as well as birds' eggs, are eaten by the foxes, 

 but in winter they lead a somewhat precarious existence and subsist largely on sea 

 urchins {Strongylocentrotus droiachiensis), which they obtain at low water. During 

 the fall of 1896 the foxes devoured all the seal pups which had perished of starvation 

 caused by pelagic sealing. 



The fields all over the islands are traversed by fox trails, and many lead up and 

 down across the face of the precipitous cliffs that bound the islands at different points. 



All the foxes I saw on St. Paul were of the brown or so-called "blue" variety. 

 Of the whole number of about 300 taken on that island in any one year not more than 

 a dozen are white. Mr. Palmer reported in 1890 that of 800 or 1,000 taken on St. 

 George annually not more than 30 or 35 were white. 



The fox is slow in changing the winter coat and presents a ragged appearance 

 throughout June, though retaining some patches here and there of the long winter 

 fur. The tail remains unchanged after the anolt is completed on the body, and by its 

 faded color aud the density of the fur presents a curious appearance. 



The largest blue fox obtained .by Mr. Palmer in 1890 had a total length of 37^ 

 inches. This was a female. Two adult males measured 36 inches and 34J inches, 

 respectively. 



Mr. J. B. Crowley, special agent of the Treasury, reported in 1895 as follows : 



The past winter [1894-95] was an exceptionally long and severe one at the seal islands. There 

 was more snow fall than usual and the ice remained attached to the shores much later than common. 

 The result was that food for blue foxes became very scarce and many of them starved to death. 

 Special Agent Ziebach on St. George Island bought food in such quantities as he could procure and 

 fed to the foxes that came to the village in search of food, and in this manner averted the death of 

 many that would have otherwise perished. No foxes were trapped on the islands during the past 

 winter. ' 



Veniaminof in 1840 commented as follows upon the foxes on the Pribilof Islands : 



Blue foxes are confined to the Pribilof Islands, on St. George especially, where they annually 

 kill about 1,500. It is said that when these islands were first discovered there was naught but blue 

 foxes there of most excellent quality; but a few winters afterwards came white foxes, which breed 

 very rapidly, and in a great measure spoiled the fur; that now the fiir which once was called blue is 

 called smoky.^ 



Of late years some effort has been made to attract the foxes to the village by 

 placing out food for them, and the white ones have been shot. 



In 1896 and 1897 Mr. Judge, the Treasury agent, had the bodies of seals salted 

 in order to feed the foxes during the winter, and in 1897, owing to the scarcity of seals 

 on St. George, it was necessary to bring bodies from St. Paul. 



> Seriate Doc. 137, Ft. I, Fifty-fourth Congress, first session, 1896, pp. 31, 32. 

 ' Condition of Affairs in Alaska, p. 258. 



