LOVERS OF THE CHASE AND OTHERS 71 



one of Nature's balance-keepers, and the amount of good performed 

 by any given animal in this respect is very often overlooked. It 

 certainly does not appear to attack the large prey which the hungry 

 Wolf makes raid upon, one reason probably being that its speed is 

 much less than that of its dangerous relative, but it does make 

 serious attacks at times upon poultry-yards, pigsties and lamb-folds. 

 From five to ten cubs are born in early Summer. 



BLACK-BACKED JACKAL.— If the great Continent of Africa 

 does not possess a Wolf, it numbers at any rate among its many 

 other remarkable animals the Black-Backed Jackal, and also the 

 most interesting Cape Hunting Dog which we shall meet with 

 shortly. The Jackal is shown in Fig. 58, and this species is justly 

 entitled to early mention because it has been well described as "the 

 handsomest and most distinct of the group of wild canines known 

 as Jackals, which, although presenting some points of resemblance 

 to Foxes, come nearer to the Wolves. Indeed, as far as size goes, 

 there is little to choose between the large dull-coloured Jackal of 

 Egypt (Canis anthus) and the undersized Wolf of the Indian 

 Peninsula." 



Jackals may be compared in size to that of a large Fox, but the 

 Black-Backed species under consideration has a more prominent 

 tail than its congeners. The appendage is not so brush-like as that 

 of the Fox, but that the animal affords sport is testified by the fact 

 that in South Africa it has been regularly hunted for a long time 

 after the same method as applied to the Fox in England. 



It perpetrates much damage among flocks, and adds to the 

 Jackal's reputation of cowardice. Like the Coyote, its diet is omni- 

 vorous, for it will hunt and kill any animal inferior to it in size, such 

 as Hares and Poultry ; it readily devours carrion, and thus acts as 

 a scavenger, and Mr. Finn remarks that "even a Water-Tortoise has 

 been found in the stomach of one." 



Unlike the three animals we recently met with, the Black-Backed 

 Jackal is of a much more solitary nature. At nightfall several may 

 perhaps be observed together on occasions, but the gregarious in- 

 stincts of the race are absent in the case of this species. Even the 

 parents do not reside with their cubs, the latter (which number 

 about six) passing their time in an "earth," or burrow, and the dog 

 and vixen housing themselves in some cover in the vicinity. 



Unlike the industrious Badger, or even the Rabbit, the Jackal 

 does not aspire to much as a burrowing animal, preferring to take 



