lf»OS.] 



MAMMALS. 



215 



In 1903, Merritt Gary was informed by William McLeocl that two 

 coyotes were killed near Fort Nelson, on Fort Xelson River, about 

 the year 1898. During my stay at Fort Simpson I receiA^ed con- 

 firmatory information, from several persons who had formerly re- 

 sided at Fort Xelson, regarding the occurrence of the coyote at that 

 place. 



Tyrrell reports shooting a coyote on a small lake near the source of 

 Foster River, about 200 miles southeast of Athabaska Lake, in the 

 summer of 1892. « 



J. Alden Loring reported this species common at Edmonton in 

 September, 1891. In 1895 he found it abundant in the foothills of 

 the Rockies in western Alberta, and shot one at Jasper House on 

 August 30. In July, 1896, he occasionally heard coyotes in the moun- 

 tains 15 miles south of Henry House, but the animal was less abun- 

 dant there than in the foothills to the eastward. In the early autumn, 

 while making a trip from Jasper House northward to Smoky River, 

 he heard the animals nearly every night, and took a young one at 

 Strawberry- Creek, 11 miles north of Jasper House, on August 23. 

 In October of the same year he saAv coyote tracks in Caribou Basin 

 and Rodent Valley, and obtained skulls at Prairie Creek and White- 

 mud to the eastward of Jasper House. 



Vulpes alascensis Merriam. Alaska Red Fox. 



The foxes of the Mackenzie region to the northward of Great Slave 

 Lake are referred to this form. We obtained a series of skulls, com- 

 prising specimens from Fort Resolution, Fort Rae, Fort Simpson, 

 and Fort Xorman. In addition, the collection of the National Mu- 

 seum contains skulls from Fort Simpson, Fort Good Hope, Peel 

 River (Fort McPherson), La Pierre House, and Fort Anderson. 

 These agree in characters with a large series from the lower Yukon 

 and the Becharof Lake region, representing typical V. alascensis. 

 A fine hunter's skin in full winter pelage from Fort Norman, and 

 another from Fort McPherson, agree in most respects with a large 

 series of skins of typical alascensis taken by A. G. Maddren at Becha- 

 rof Lake, Alaska. The lower Mackenzie specimens have slightly 

 paler faces, thighs, and rumps, and the latter part is more flecked with 

 yellowish white. An indistinct stripe on the front of the thigh, 

 representing an extension of the black area on the feet, is dusky at 

 base of fur, though it is tipped with reddish. The tails of the 

 Mackenzie specimens differ decidedly in shape and color from those 

 of this series of alascensis. They are much more heavily haired, 

 especially near the base, and taper thence toward the tip, while in 

 typical alascensis they are nearly cylindrical. The subapical zone of 

 color is a grayish red, much less bright than in typical alascensis. 



"Ann. Kept. Can. Geol. Surv., VIII (new ser.), p. 13D, 1896. 



