ZOOLOGY. 113 



SOW will at once face the assailant, and start to attack him. 

 He allows her to come up within a few feet of him, and then 

 moves off slowly ; and she, like a fool, thinking she Avill catch 

 him, continues the chase. While running, he keeps his head 

 turned to one side, partly to watch her, and partly to watch 

 the pigs ; and when he has seduced her far enough away, he 

 suddenly makes a dash at the pigs, and, getting one of them, 

 runs off with it, leaving the agonized and furious sow far. be- 

 hind. If the coyote does not succeed in getting a pig at the 

 first attempt — that is, if he does not lead the sow far enough 

 away — he tries it again and again, till he succeeds, the sow 

 being so stupid as to follow him, after having repeated oppor- 

 tunities to see his purpose. 



The coyotes frequently go in packs, and sometimes will un- 

 dertake to attack a cow. On such occasions, they have a con- 

 certed plan of operations : they surround their intended victim, 

 and v>^hile those in front rush at her as a feint, those behind 

 attempt to cut her hamstrings. As their teeth are very sharp, 

 they often succeed. The cow's hamstrings once cut, she falls, 

 and is completely at their mercy ; and they quickly pick her 

 bones. 



The coyote is a great thief, and will steal the pillow from 

 under a sleeping man's head ; for it happens in California that 

 bags of provisions are often used as pillows. Wlien the coyote 

 is hungry, he will gnaw any thing that is greasy, and for that 

 reason he frequently cuts off the hemp and raw-hide ropes 

 with which horses are tied out at night ; but he never bites 

 into hair-ropes, which for that reason were formerly used ex- 

 clusively for staking out horses. 



The coyote is nocturnal in his habits, and is very fond ^ 

 howling or yelping. He begins with a shrill, quick bark, ana 

 follows up with a succession of yelps, ending in a long-drawn, 

 quavering, melancholy howl. When one begins, all others 

 within hearing take up the cry. Ten years ago, the traveller 

 in the Sacramento valley rarely passed a night without hearing 

 their music. They are not so nimierous now, but still they 



