30 QUADRUPEDS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



pointed ; body slender and compressed ; tail long and bushy ; 

 claws not retractile. 



1. Vulpes fulvus. Lin. The Red Fox. 



Canis fulvus, Harlan, Fauna, p. 89. 

 The Red Fox, G dman, i. p. 276. 



Canis (Vulpes) fulvus, Richardson, Fauna Bor. Am. p. 91. 

 'Figure; Ibid., plate 6. 



Specific characters. Fur reddish or fulvous ; white beneath ; 

 ears black behind ; fore feet and legs black before ; tail long, 

 bushy, and terminated with white. 



Description. The head is pointed ; color above fulvous, but 

 varying in degree with season, age, and sex ; some individuals are 

 quite red, while others are pale-yellow. In the spring, the color 

 appears to fade. The quantity of white on the tail varies much 

 in individuals ; in some, there is a larger intermixture of long, 

 black, glossy hairs ; in others, the back is quite gray. 



Observations. The Fox, like some of the smaller animals, 

 instead of flying from civilized life, seems rather to increase in its 

 neighbourhood, or at least this would be the case in mountainous 

 districts, if laws for its extirpation were not enacted, and these 

 would be ineffectual, were it not for the fact, that they take effect 

 upon the young. During the operation of the late act in this 

 State for destroying those animals which are injurious to the farm- 

 er, great numbers were taken, so that now, in the county of Berk- 

 shire, their number is very sensibly diminished. The Fox is 

 unquestionably injurious in the sheep-fold, especially in the spring. 

 It makes some little compensation by destroying mice, but its 

 benefits to the farmer are not sufficient to entitle it to his protec- 

 tion. Its numbers will, therefore, always be kept within moderate 

 bounds. 



The habits of the Fox are so well known, his sagacity and 

 cunning having become proverbial, that it is unnecessary to dwell 

 upon this part of the subject. He is, moreover, oftener ex- 

 posed to observation, than any of our larger animals. 



In connexion with this species, it is proper to speak of the 



