THE LIVING WORLD. 
635 
Silver Fox, or Black Fox ( Vulpes argentatus ), is another variety of 
the red fox ( Vulpes fulvus). The Silver Fox, of the Western States, is the 
American Swift Fox. The Long-tailed Fox, Large Red Fox, or Prairie Fox, 
(Vulpes macrourus, or Utah), is the largest of the fox family, being nearly three 
feet m length. It has a sharp muzzle, long-pointed ears, and its haunts are on 
the western plains of the United States. 
The Blue Arctic Fox, Terrienniak, or Perzi ( Vulpes lagopus ), becomes 
entirely white m the winter season, when its silken fur- is an object of interest 
to man. Its habitat is the North Polar region, and as in passing from its sum¬ 
mer color of blue to its winter mantle of white, it furnishes various other shades • 
it is called also 
the stone fox , 
the pied fox , 
the white fox , 
and the sooty 
fox. It is 
stated that it 
has the power 
of mimicry, and 
that it uses it 
m securing 
birds for food. 
It lives in small 
towns of twenty 
or thirty in¬ 
habitants, and 
in spite of its 
appearance of 
alertness and 
intelligence is 
very easily 
trapped or 
shot. 
The Euro- 
p e a n Fox 
(Vulpes vulga¬ 
ris) is the hero of fox-hunting stories, and from his cunning and endurance 
he is well calculated to sustain the role. This is the fox of the Romans, the 
celebrated Reynard of fable and story, and the one whose brush has so long 
been the coveted prize of the British hunter. Its range is the whole of Europe, 
Asia Minor and eastward to Thibet. An English fox-hunt is a spirited affair, 
and throws into excitement the whole community. The curvetting of the 
horses, the struggling of the hounds in their leashes, the broken country over 
which the hunters must ride, the cunning of the fox itself, and the glory of 
triumphing over one’s fellows, all unite to fan the excitement into a blaze, and 
to cause the successful hunter to believe that he is as great a conqueror as 
the celebrated military men of yore, but since fox-hunting has been intro¬ 
duced at the East, and because fox-hunting has always been a well-known 
sport in the South, we refer our readers to the sporting papers. 
BI.UK arctic fox. 
