348 Wild Beasts 



invention, all develop themselves. Unlike wolves, whose 

 homes and breeding-places are commonly in caves or 

 clefts of rock, beneath trees or within any natural recess, 

 coyotes dig burrows in the open, and are seldom or never 

 inmates of forests. 



As the species approaches its southern limit, the average 

 size decreases and its color changes. In Mexico, where 

 they are seldom molested, these brutes prowl a good deal 

 during the day ; they pack likewise more commonly than 

 further north, and if smaller, are also bolder and less upon 

 their guard. 



In Algeria or Oran an Arab knew when the lion was 

 coming by the jackal's cry ; Brazilian Indians tell one that 

 they can trace a jaguar's way at night through the barking 

 of foxes, and it is said by shikaris in India that a prowl- 

 ing tiger's path may be known by a peculiar howl which 

 his frequent attendant — the kind of jackal called Kolc 

 baloo — utters on such occasions. The coyote also gives 

 warning of the approach of foes that are oftentimes more 

 dangerous than either lions or tigers. But it is by its 

 silence that danger is announced. In a position where 

 hostile Indians were to be expected at any time, when the 

 coyote ceased its cries, it was an ominous thing, and front- 

 iersmen looked out for the appearance of a war party. 

 Everybody who has been much on the border is probably 

 acquainted with this very general belief, and it may per- 

 haps be founded in fact ; but this much is certain, that 

 these creatures do not always become quiet when Indians 

 are about, for the author has more then once heard them 

 howl — coyotes, not savages who were imitating them — 



