NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL I'ARK. 83 



behind him, the Coyote knows it at once, and boldly flaunts 

 himself within stone's throw of his enemy. 



The Coyote varies in color quite markedly, exhibiting the 

 gray, brown and black phases. Formerly it was supposed 

 that one species comprehended all, but Dr. Merriam's series 

 of specimens from all parts of the West and Southwest have 

 led him to separate these animals into eleven species. 



THE FOX DENS, No. 23. 



Of the many species of foxes found in North America, 

 three species stand forth as the types of prominent groups, 

 and it is very desirable that all three should be well known. 



The Red Fox, {Vulpes fiilvus), is the representative of the 

 group which contains also the cross fox and black fox of 

 the Northwest. In spite of dogs, traps, guns, spades and 

 poison, this cunning creature persists in living in close 

 touch with the poultry j'ards of civilized man. His perfect 

 familiarity with old-fashioned dangers enables him to avoid 

 them all, and no sooner does a new danger menace him, than 

 he promptly invents a way to escape it. The manner in 

 which the Red Fox lives with civilization without being ex- 

 terminated really is surprising, and speaks volumes for the 

 astuteness of this animal. 



The geographical range of the Red Fox is very wide. From 

 North Carolina and Tennessee, it extends northward through 

 the whole northeastern United States, gradually bearing 

 westward to Blontana, and northward almost to the Arctic 

 Ocean. It is the commonest species in Alaska, where it is 

 found practically everywhere. 



The typical Red Fox, and its two subspecies, the Cross Fox, 

 {Vulpes fulvus decussatus), and the Black Fox, {V. f. argen- 

 tatus) — the latter many times miscalled the "Silver Fox" — 

 vary in all possible gradations of color from bright red to 

 pure black. Often it is difficult to decide where one species 

 leaves off and another begins. The Cross Fox stands mid- 

 way between the Red and Black, with some of the yellow 

 color of the former on the sides of the neck and behind the 

 foreleg, while the remainder of the general color is grizzled 

 gray-brown laid across his shoulders in a more or less dis- 

 tinct cross. The Black Fox varies in color from very dark 

 iron-gray to dark brown or black, with a slight wash of 

 white-tipped hairs over the head, body and tail. The tip of 



