FOXES. 
557 
omnivorous in its food, is easily killed by means of strychnine. The fish which 
forms its favourite diet in winter is a kind of carp; while in summer the chief food 
consists of mice, which are pursued either in small companies or family parties. 
Fruit also forms a portion of its diet. It does little or no damage to poultry; and 
in Japan has been known to make its winter lair beneath the walls of a house. 
Both its fur and its flesh are held in high estimation by the Japanese. 
The Foxes (Canis vulpes, etc.). 
One of the characteristics by which the skulls of the wolves and the other 
members of the dog family described above may be distinguished from those of 
the foxes has been mentioned on p. 496. To this it may be added that the frontal 
bones of the skulls of the former group are inflated by internal air-chambers, which 
are wanting in those of the latter. Moreover, the pupil of the eye, when contracted, 
is circular in the wolves, jackals, and domestic dogs, whereas in the foxes it is 
elliptical. Some of the fox-like South American species of the former resemble, 
however, foxes in this respect, as they do in external form to a more or less 
marked degree. On account of these intermediate forms, we cannot agree with 
those who refer the foxes to a distinct genus, although they differ from all other 
members of the family in having but six teats. Foxes are characterised by their 
slight build, their long bushy tails, which are nearly always considerably more 
than half the length of the head and body, and short limbs; while they generally 
have large ears. All the members of the group are chiefly nocturnal in their 
habits, hiding in holes or burrows made by themselves, or in ravines, or amongst 
grass or bushes during the day. They are, as a rule, solitary, and rarely if ever 
associate in numbers as other Canidai do. All the species are more or less 
insectivorous and 
frugivorous; but the 
more tropical forms 
appear to live on 
insects more than 
do those which in¬ 
habit temperate 
climates. All are 
highly intelligent 
and famous for cun¬ 
ning. The group 
is distributed over 
North America, Asia, 
Europe, and Africa, 
but is unknown in South America. The smaller African species are distinguished 
by the inordinate length of their ears. 
Probably every Englishman thinks he knows the common fox 
sufficiently well to run no risk of confounding it with any other 
animal; and if our observations were confined to the ordinary foxes of Europe we 
should have no great difficulty in deciding that they might be included under one 
SKELETON OF FOX. 
Common Fox. 
