102 POPULAR OFFICIAL GUIDE. 
SWIFT OR KIT FOX. 
fair condition, its coat of thick, silvery gray fur is as smooth 
and even as if recently trimmed by a barber. 
On the western plains, where it once had for companions 
the buffalo and prong-horn, the Swift is becoming rare. Its 
worst enemy is the deadly strychnine bottle of the ranch- 
man. This species does not thrive in the Fox Dens, and it 
will be found in the Burrowing Animal’s Quarters, where it 
seems pleased to consider itself at home. 
In the Small-Mammal House is shown a new species, 
closely allied to the above, from Phoenix, Arizona, recently 
described by Dr. C. H. Merriam as Vulpes macrotis, or the 
Large-Eared Swift. 
The Gray Fox, (Urocyon virginianus), is the fox of the 
South, even though it does range northward well into the 
territory of the red fox. This species is distinctly smaller 
and more lightly built than the red, its hair is not so luxu- 
riant, it is more shy and retiring, and its colors change very 
little. When hotly pursued by dogs it often climbs trees 
that are quite perpendicular, to a height of twenty feet or 
more. In captivity Gray Foxes are forever trying to escape 
by climbing, instead of by burrowing, as would naturally 
be expected. In temper, they are treacherous to their- 
keepers, and also to each other, and as ‘‘pets’’ are anything 
but desirable. 
