62 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA. [No. 22, 



loneh' and desolate waste. Sometimes they were heard pursuing 

 carihou. Owing to the limited time, I was unable to obtain specimens, 

 though 1 saw man^' skins, mostly nearly pure white, at Fort Churchill, 

 where they are traded by the Eskimos and Chippewj'ans. 



The Barren Ground wolf has been recorded by the different Arctic 

 expeditions from various points in northern Keewatin. 



Canis occidentalis Richardson. Graj' "Wolf. 



Gray woh^es are found more or less commonlj- throughout the 

 region between Lake Winnipeg and Hudson Bay, and numbers are 

 traded at all the posts. "We saw tracks in se\'eral places on Steel 

 River, and a wolf was seen a few miles above Fort Churchill during 

 our stay there. A skull of a female from the vicinity of Norway 

 House was obtained from ]\Ir. MacDonald, who informed me that the 

 animal was one of a pair which for some time during the winter of 

 1900-11)111 lived on small fish which they caught at a certain place in 

 the river where ice did not form. Mr. Campbell, of Oxford House, 

 informed me that during the winter of 1899-1900 several were killed 

 within a few rods of the buildings. 



Vulpes fulvus (Desmarest). Common Red Fox. 



Foxes occur rather plentifully throughout the region between Lake 

 Winnipeg and Hudson Bay. ^lanv skins were seen in the store- 

 houses of the companv at Norway House, Oxford House, and York 

 Factor}'. A few are collected at Fort Churchill. The 'cross' phase 

 of pelage seems to predominate, and the normal or red jjhase to be 

 next in abundance; but manj' black, or 'silver.' foxes are taken. 

 Certain districts are said bj' the traders to produce black foxes almost 

 exclusively; ' in others these are rarelj^ taken. Large numbers of skins 

 seen at the different posts exhibited every possible degree of variation 

 from the normal red phase to almost pure black. A series of skulls, 

 including specimens from Oxford House, Cross Lake, and Split Lake, 

 was obtained from Mr. Campbell and IMr. MacDonald. 



Vulpes lagopus innuitus Merriam. Continental Arctic Fox. 



Vulpes lagopus hDitiitiis Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., XV, p. 170, August 6, 

 1902. 



We first met with this species Julj' 19 on the ' Barrens ' between 

 Stony and Owl rivers, about 75 miles north of York Factorj'. Here, 

 on a slightly elevated part of the tundra, we found a burrow occupied 

 by a family of Arctic foxes. This burrow was tj'pical — an under- 

 ground _ labyrinth with several entrances. In the vicinity were scat- 

 tered the bones and feathers of various birds, principally ptarmigans, 

 and well-worn trails leading in various directions gave evidence of the 

 activity of the mother fox in providing for her family. A j'ouug one 

 was enticed from the depths of the burrow and secured. Its color may 



