22 Mcri'idiii — llrvhioti of flic (Aiijotcx. 



Soaoran deserts of eastern C^alifornia, Nevada, and Utah, and 

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

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

 tergrade are C viearnsi and the pallid C estor. 



]t should be observed that two of the groups — the latrans and 

 the microdon — have each a pallid representative, and that these 

 re})resentatives (pallidus and esUn-) resemble one another exter- 

 nally so closely that they are hardly distinguishable excejjt 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 (or frudror) group also has a pallid member, but no s}jeci- 

 mens from the southern plains have come to hand. 



Good skins with skulls are much needed from all parts of 

 Mexico, Texas, Indian Territor}^ 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 Co^'otes 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, onlv four names have 

 t)een proposed for the Coyotes. These are Cauls latrans Say, 

 1823, for the Upper Mississip[)i Valley animal ; Canis ochropns 

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

 Oinls frustror Woodhouse, 1851, for the Indian Territory (and 

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

 the one from tlie 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 tlie same in all the Coyotes. Ex- 

 cept in the ])ale desert forms (pallidas and estor), in which the 

 fulvous tints are replaced by ])uti', the muzzle, backs of the ears, 

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



