Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 1 (1877).djvu/345

Rh are very different to the snow-white skins which we usually associate with Arctic Foxes. The hair on the back and brush is of a dirty rufous tinge, on the belly yellowish white. The flora in the neighbourhood of this den was wonderfully rich, the soil having been fertilized by the presence of the Foxes. Several Saxifrages, a Stellaria, a Draba or two, and two or three kinds of grass were in bloom, and the yellow blossom of the Potentilla brightened the spot. As we rested there, many little Lemmings popped up from their holes, and undismayed by our presence commenced feeding on the plants. We noticed that many dead Lemmings were scattered around. In every case they had been killed in the same manner, the sharp canine teeth of the Foxes had penetrated the brain. Presently we came upon two Ermines killed in the same manner: these were joyful prizes, for up to this time we had not obtained these animals in northern Grinnell Land. Then to our surprise we discovered numerous deposits of dead Lemmings. In one out-of-the-way corner under a rock we pulled out a heap of over fifty dead Lemmings. We disturbed numerous "caches" of twenty and thirty, and the ground was honey-combed with holes that each contained several bodies of these little animals, a small quantity of earth being placed over them. In one hole we found the major part of a Hare carefully hidden away. The wings of young Brent Geese, Bernicla brenta, were also lying about; and as these birds were at that date only just hatching, it showed that they must have been the results of successful forays of prior seasons, and that consequently the Foxes occupy the same abodes from year to year. I had long wondered how the Arctic Fox existed during the winter. Prof. Newton had already suggested, in his 'Notes on the Zoology of Spitzbergen,' that the Fox probably made some provision for winter sustenance, and I was much pleased by finding these large deposits of dead Lemmings and other animals, unquestionably bearing out the same views. It is also a very beautiful arrangement that the increased flora induced by the presence of the Foxes should be the means of attracting and sustaining the Lemmings in the immediate vicinity of the Foxes' den. The Arctic Fox, although I subsequently saw a second pair in the same neighbourhood, may be considered somewhat rare in the northern part of Grinnell Land. The specimens obtained did not differ in size from those killed further south.