725 ...... C A N I S. 
ble, from their gtegariou$ nature, that he -{liquid have 
caught three, hundred’ of them, than of the folitary qua¬ 
druped the fox.—Of the fox there are the following va¬ 
rieties": ' 
Canis vulpes Lycaon, or Black. Fox: inhabits 
the colder regions of Europe, ’Alia, and America. This 
is t he moll cunning animal: of the fpecies : it is exceedingly 
like the wolf, and is:.of an intermediate fize between that 
animal-anil the common fox. The colour is entirely black,; 
fometinles, however, variegated with greyilh, or by hav¬ 
ing the fips of the hairs of a li 1 very whitenefs. The,fur is 
very valuable ; being preferred in Rnfiia to the fineft fa¬ 
bles ; one (kin fometimes fells for four hundred roubles : 
thofe of America are inferior in beatity. The above de- 
fcription refers dillinctly to a variety of the fox ; and yet 
Dr. Gmelin quotes as u fynoniine, the black wolf of 
BufFon. 
Cams vulpes alopex ; the Brant Fox : inhabits 
Europe, Alia, and Chili. This animal is lefs frequent, 
Smaller, and of a darker colour, than the common fox, to 
which it is very fimilar in all other refpedts. Since it is 
found both in Chili and the Old Continent, it ought alfo 
to inhabit the intermediate regions in the north of Ameri¬ 
ca ; and, accordingly, that defcribed by Mr. Pennant came 
from Penfylvania. Authors do not feem properly agreed 
about the animal to which this name is given ; at lead the 
coal fox of BufFon, and the brant fox of Pennant, are con- 
iiderably different, tho’ quoted by Gmelin as fynonimous. 
Canis vulpes alopex Europe us; or Coal Fox: 
inhabits Burgundy, where it gets the name of renard ckar- 
bonnier, or collier fox, from the blacknefs of his feet and 
legs, as if they had become fo artificially by working 
among charcoal dull. This variety is of a filver grey co¬ 
lour ; having the tail tipt with white, like the common fox. 
Canis»vulpes corsac; or Corsac Fox : , inhabits 
chiefly the great defert between the Ural and the Irtifh, 
in Afiatic Ruflia. This variety is lefs than the common 
fox, but, in other refpeiffs, is very fimilar; it is greedy of 
birds, has a bad fmell, and howls and barks exaftly as 
they do ; the ears are upright, the hair is foft and downy ; 
the tail is bufliy, and as long as the body ; the fur is of a 
pale tawny colour in fummer, growing grey in winter, 
with a white throat ; the tail is cinereous, except the bafe 
and tip. Forty or fifty thonfand of the (kins of this va¬ 
riety are annually fold by the Kirghis Khaiffacks to the 
Ruffians ; being caught by means of falcons and grey- 
lie irnds. 
Canis vulpes Karagan; or Karagan Fox : the 
tail (Irait; the body of a grey colour, and the ears black. 
It inhabits the deferts belonging to the Kalmucks and 
Kirgifes. 
Canis vulpes ciNereo-argenteus ; or Silvery 
Fox : it inhabits North America, and abounds in the 
wooded eminences of Louifiana, which are every where 
pierced with their holes : their coat is very beautiful : 
.they have fhort hair of a deep brown ; over this fprings 
long (ilvery hairs, which give the animal a very elegant 
appearance. They live in forefls abounding in game, and 
never attempt the poultry, which runs at large without 
any danger. 
Canis vulpes Virgimanus; the Grey or Blue 
Fox : this is the largeff and mod beautiful of the fpecies. 
It is all over of a light blue grey, except a little rednefs 
about the ears; has a (harp nofe ; (harp pointed, long, 
upright, ears, and long legs. It inhabits Carolina, and 
the warmer parts of North America. It agrees with the 
common fox in form, but differs from it in the nature of 
its dwelling ; as it never burrows, but lives in hollow 
trees : it gives no diverfion to the fportfrnan ; for it takes 
to its retreat, where it tamely ftiffers itfelf to be killed. It 
has,no ftrong fmell like the common fox ; it feeds on poul¬ 
try, birds, &c. and is eafily tamed : their (kins, when in 
feafon,.are made ufe of for muffs., and are both elegant and 
coftly. 
Canis vulpes lag opus ; or Arctic Fox ; diffin- 
guifhed by a (harp nofe, and (harp rounded ears, almoft hid 
in its fur : its hair is long and foft, and fomewhat woolly ; 
its legs are (liort, having the toes covered with fur on all 
parts, like thofe of a hare ; its tail is (horter and more 
bufliy than that of a common fox, of a bluifh grey or a(h- 
colour, fometimeswhite : the young of the grey are black, 
before they come to maturity: their hair is much longer 
in winter than in fummer, as is ufual with animals in cold 
climates. They inhabit the countries bordering on the 
Frozen Sea, as far as the land is deflituteof woods, which 
is generally from feventy to fixty-eight degrees of latitude ; 
this fpecies extends to Kanjtfcnatka, Behrings, and Cop¬ 
per Itlands ; but are found in none of the other iflands 
between Kamtfchatka and the other oppofite parts of 
America, difeovered by captain Behring in 1741. They 
are found in Greenland, Iceland, Snitzbergen, Nova 
Zembla, and Lapland : they burrow under ground, in 
holes many feet in length, the bottom of which they line 
with mofs. In Greenland and Spitzbergen, they live in 
the clefts of the rocks, not being able to burrow by 
reafon of the froft. Two or three pair, as a family, inha¬ 
bit the fame hole. They are in heat about Lady-day, and 
continue during that time in tlie open air : they afterwards 
take to their holes, and go with young nine weeks, like 
dogs, which they refemble in other refpedfs alfo. The 
Ruffians indeed call them dogs ; but they have all the cun¬ 
ning of the common fox, and prey on the young of geefe, 
ducks, and other water-fowl, before they can fly ; on the 
groufe and the hares of the country ; on the eggs of birds ; 
and in Greenland (through neceffity) on berries; (hell-fifti, 
or any thing the fea throws up ; but their principal food 
in the north of Alia, and in Lapland, is the leinin or Lap- 
land rat; and hence, they are very migratory, following 
theleming, a very wandering animal. Sometimes thele 
foxes defert the country for three or four years, probably 
in purfuit of their prey. The people in Jenfea fuppofe 
they go to the banks of the Oby. They are taken in traps ; 
and often the glutton and great owl deflroy them before 
the hunter can come to take them out. They are found 
in great troops on the banks of the Frozen Sea, and of 
the rivers that flaw into it. 
Of this fox, we have the following very lingular ac¬ 
count in Mr. Tooke’s New Hiftory of the Ruffian'' Em¬ 
pire : “ Thefe animals forced themfelves into our tents by 
night as well as by day, dealing all they could carry off„ 
even things that were of no ufe to them ; as knives, flicks, 
clothes, &c. They were fo inconceivably ingenious as to 
roll down our cades of provifions, and then (leaf the meat 
out of them fo ably, that at firfl we could not bring our- 
felvesto alcribe the theft to them. As we were dripping 
an animal of its (kin, it often happened that we could not 
avoid dabbing two or three foxes, from their rapacity in 
tearing the flelh out of our hands. If we buried it ever fo 
carefully, and added flones. to the weight of earth that 
was upon it, they not only found it out, but (hoved away 
the flones, as men would have Bone, with, their (houlders 
plying under them, helping one another with all their 
might. If, thinking to fecure it, we put any on the top of 
a high poft in the air, they grubbed up the earth at the 
bottom, fo that tlie poft and all came tumbling down, or 
one, of them clambered up and threw down what was up¬ 
on it with incredible artifice and dexterity. They watched 
all our motions, and accompanied us in whatever we were 
about to do. If the lea threw up an animal of any kind, 
they devoured it ere a man of us could come up ; and, if 
they could not conlume it all at once, they trailed it away 
in portions to the mountains, where they buried it under 
.flones before our eyes ; Sind running to and fro as long as 
any thing remained to be conveyed away. While this was 
doing, others flood on the guard, and watched 11s. If 
they fa\y any one coming at a diftance, the whole troop 
combined at o.nce and began digging all together in the 
land, till they had fo fairly put a beaver or a fea-bear un¬ 
der t lie fur face that nbt a trace of,it was to.be feen. In 
the night-time, when we dept in the field, they canid and 
pulled 
