Fur'bearing Foxes. 355 



It may be as well, perhaps, to state for the benefit of my 

 non-scientific readers, that the family Canidce includes animals 

 which are characterized by having the jaws somewhat produced, 

 the legs of equal length, the anterior pair being furnished with 

 five toes, and the posterior with four. The claws are non- 

 retractile, and from a remarkable habit all the members of the 

 group have of walking, as it were, on tip-toe, the term dic/iti- 

 grada is applied to them. Each fore-foot has a rudimentary 

 toe, to which a claw is generally, although not invariably, 

 affixed. There are two well-marked types of this sub-family 

 Yulpince inhabiting North America. In the one type represented 

 by the red fox {Vulpes fulvus) , the tail is uniformly bushy, and 

 is made up of long hairs, which are irregularly mixed in 

 amongst and distributed through a short and rather compact 

 fur. The skull is very wolf-like in character ; the temporal 

 crests strongly developed, approach each other, and extend 

 rather beyond the parieto-frontal suture : the muzzle is elon- 

 gated and particularly sharp. The other type is well exempli- 

 fied by the grey fox (V. Virginianus) . An examination of 

 the skull shows us that, in this animal, the temporal crests 

 never approach each other ; a space of quite an inch on 

 the parieto-frontal suture separates them. Another marked 

 difference is observable in the shape of the muzzle, which 

 is very short and sharp pointed in this type of fox ; and 

 the tail instead of being full and bushy, exhibits, when care- 

 fully examined, a regular ridge or mane of bristle-like hairs 

 which extend along its upper line from end to end. These hairs 

 have no short fur intermixed with them, and the longer hair, 

 uniformly clothing the tail, hangs down loosely on each side. 



"The following diagnosis clearly describes the points 

 of contrast :— * 



u A. Tail with soft fur and long hair, uniformly mixed ; 

 muzzle long ; temporal crests coming nearly in contact. 

 Vubpes. 



" B. Tail with a concealed mane of stiff hairs, without 



any soft fur intermixed; muzzle short; temporal crests 



always widely separated. A supplementary tubercle on 



the lower sectorial. The under jaw with an angular 



emargination below. Urocyon." 



Before we proceed to play the spy upon reynard at home 



in the wilderness, it will not be time mis- spent to consider very 



briefly the distinguishing characters which separate the wolves 



{Lupines) from the true foxes. 



If you think it worth the trouble, courteous reader, when 

 you next visit the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's Park, 

 direct your steps towards the cages wherein the wolves are 

 * Baird, " N. Am. Mam.," p. 121. 



