99 



f tf the Coyotes. 



Sonoran deserts of eastern California, Nevada, and Utah, and 

 C. ochropus the Lower Sonoran San Joaquin Valley of California. 

 Apparently the only forms in this series which can possibly in- 

 tergrade are C. mearnsi and the pallid C. estor. 



It should be observed that two of the groups the latrans&nd 

 the microdon have each a pallid representative, and that these 

 representatives (pallidus and estof) resemble one another exter 

 nally so closely that they are hardly distinguishable except by 

 size, while a glance at their teeth shows that they belong to op 

 posite extremes of the whole series. It is not impossible that the 

 third (orfrustror) group also has a pallid member, but no speci 

 mens from the southern plains have come to hand. 



Good skins with skulls are much needed from all parts of 

 Mexico, Texas, Indian Territory, Oklahoma, New Mexico, south 

 ern Colorado, western Arizona, the Painted Desert in eastern 

 Arizona, the coast ranges of southern California, eastern North 

 Dakota, Manitoba, and the northwest coast region. The pelage* 

 is in best condition in early winter immediately after the fall 

 molt, usually in December and January. 



HISTORY AND NOMENCLATURE. 



Fortunately the Coyotes have escaped the complicated history 

 and involved synonymy with which most groups are encum 

 bered. This is due in the main to the widespread belief that all 

 of the small wolves of North America belong to a single species. 



So far as I have been able to ascertain, only four names have 

 been proposed for the Coyotes. These are Catiis latrans Say, 

 1823, for the Upper Mississippi Valley animal ; Cams ochropus 

 Eschscholtz, 1829, for the species from the interior of California ; 

 Canis frastror Woodhouse, 1851, for the Indian Territory (and 

 Texas) animal; and Lyciscus cagottis Hamilton Smith, 1839, for 

 the one from the southern end of the tableland of Mexico. All 

 of these names are here recognized as designating valid forms. 



GENERAL CHARACTERS. 



The pattern of coloration is the same in all the Coyotes. Ex 

 cept in the pale desert forms (pallidus and estor), in which the 

 fulvous tints are replaced by buff, the muzzle, backs of the ears, 

 outer side (sometimes the whole) of the fore and hind feet and 



