252 CARNIVORA. 



took refuge in a tree. In the morning he found the bones of his friend 

 scattered on the snow, which was stained with his blood. 



Audubon considers the dusky wolf and the black wolf the same. 



The White Wolf, Canis occidcntalis, var. albus (Plate XVII), used to 

 be exceedingly common on the plains, consorting in large bands witt 

 the Coyote, and is large, stout, and compactly built. 



This variety of wolf is found as far north in the Arctic regions as they 

 have been traversed by man. A white wolf was killed in Erie county, 

 N. Y., at the beginning of this century, but they do not appear on the 

 Atlantic coast. A very considerable degree of cold seems necessary to 

 produce wolves of the white variety. 



Audubon remarks that the wolves in the North are mostly white, in 

 the Middle States and on the Atlantic Coast gray, in the South and Florida, 

 black, in Texas and the Southwest, red. " It is difficult," he adds, "on 

 any principle of science to account for this remarkable peculiarit)'." 



The Red Wolf of Texas, Canis occidcntalis, var. rufus (Plate XVII), 

 in shape resembles the common gray wolf, but is more slender and 

 lighter than the white wolf, with a more cunning fox-like look. The hair 

 on the body is not woolly, but lies smooth and flat. The color is reddish- 

 brown mixed with irregular patches of black, there is a brown stripe on 

 the fore-legs extending from the shoulders to the paws ; the end of the 

 tail is black for about three inches. 



It is by no means the only variety found in Texas, but it does not 

 inhabit the northern prairies, or even the lower Mississippi bottoms. Its 

 habits are nearly similar to those of the black and the white wolf 



It is said that when visiting the battlefields of Mexico, the wolves 

 preferred the Americans to the Mexicans, and only ate the bodies of the 

 latter from dire necessity, as, owing to the quantity of pepper used by 

 the Mexicans in their food, their flesh is impregnated with that povv'erful 

 stimulant. No corpse of wounded straggler, or of unfortunate traveler 

 butchered by the Comanches is ever neglected by the prowling wolf. 



THE PRAIRIE WOLF. 



The Prairie Wolf, Canis latrans (Plate XVII\ has a full, bushy tail 

 like a wolf, and a sharp muzzle like a fox. The neck is short and power- 

 ful, the head thin ; the eye is light-brown with a round pupil. The color 

 is a dirty-gray, passing into a blacker tint on the back ; the tail is 



