9 6 



THE FOX. 



rieties. The gray fox, which is much smaller and less 

 valuable than the reel, is the southern species, and is 

 said to be rarely found north of Maryland, though in 

 certain rocky localities along the Hudson they are 

 common. 



In the Southern States this fox is often hunted in the 

 English fashion, namely, on horseback, the riders tear- 

 ing through the country in pursuit till the animal is run 

 down and caught. This is the only fox that will tree. 

 When too closely pressed, instead of taking to a den 

 or hole, it climbs beyond the reach of the dogs in some 

 small tree. 



The red fox is the northern species, and is rarely 

 found further south than the mountainous districts of 

 Virginia. In the Arctic regions he gives place to the 

 Arctic fox, which most of the season is white. 



The prairie fox, the cross fox, and the black or 

 silver-gray fox, seem only varieties of the red fox, as 

 the black squirrel breeds from the gray, and the black 

 woodchuck is found with the brown. There is little to 

 distinguish them from the red, except the color, though 

 the prairie fox is said to be the larger of the two. 



The cross fox is dark-brown on its muzzle and ex- 

 tremities, with a cross of red and black on its shoulders 

 and breast, which peculiarity of coloring, and not any 

 trait in its character, gives it its name. They are very 

 rare, and few hunters have ever seen one. The Amer- 

 ican Fur Company used to obtain annually from fifty 

 to one hundred skins. The skins formerly sold for 



