136 CANIDJE. 



, Persian ; Giirk, Baluch. ; K/iarmd, Brahni ; Rdtnahun, Kash- 

 mir ; Ulidnyu, Tibetan. 



Size large. Tail with hair considerably less than half the length 

 of the head and body, without hair about one third. Fur long and 

 thick, with woolly underfur. 



Colour. Oil the upper parts and the outside of the limbs rufous 

 or yellowish grey, much mixed with black in some skins, lower 

 parts whitish. Underfur on back pale slaty or light brown with 

 coarse whitish hairs intermixed, longer hairs light brown tipped 

 with black ; sometimes beyond the black there is a white termina- 

 tion. The tail is often tipped with black. Some individuals are 

 much paler than others, some are quite black. 



Dimensions. Head and body 3 feet 6 inches to 3 feet 9 inches, 

 tail without hair 15 to 16 inches, with hair 18 or 19, hind foot, 

 from heel 9, ear outside 4*5 ; height 2 feet 4 inches. A large skull 

 measures 8'7 inches long in basal length, 5*5 broad across the 

 zygomatic arches ; a smaller but fully adult skull is 8 inches long, 

 4-8 broad. 



Distribution. Throughout the Palaearctic region, extending into 

 Baluchistan, and Western Sind (where a specimen has been obtained 

 bv Mr. J Murray), and probably into the Northern Punjab, as a 

 skull from the Salt Range, collected by Mr. Theobald and now in 

 the British Museum, appears to belong to this and not to the next 

 species. The common wolf, if, as I believe, C. laniyer is identical, 

 inhabits all countries north of the Himalayan range. 



Varieties. The Sind, Baluchistan, and Gilgit animals appear un- 

 distinguishable from European wolves. The variety found in Tibet 

 and Ladtik is, however, very pale-coloured, with woolly fur, and 

 has generally been distinguished as C. laniger. I thought at one 

 time that the dentition was different, the upper sectorial in C. lani- 

 rjer being generally shorter than the two upper true molars taken 

 together, whilst the reverse was believed to be the case in C. lupus 

 (P. A. S. B. 1877, p. 116) ; but Huxley in his paper already quoted 

 (p. 279) has shown that the teeth of both European and Tibetan 

 wolves vary in this respect, and the difference in the fur appears 

 due to climate. The cranial distinctions mentioned by Blyth 

 (J. A. S. B. xxiii, p. 733) are probably caused by age. The black 

 Tibetan wolf, classed apart by some, is evidently a variety similar 

 to the black European wolf that was called Canis lycaon by 

 Schreber. 



Habits. The common wolf plays as large a part in story and 

 myth amongst European nations as the tiger does in India. The 

 wolf's habits are well known, though, as in the case of the great 

 feline beasts of prey, the terror inspired by him has invested him, 

 in popular lore, with many imaginary attributes. 



Wolves are found both in open country and forests. As a rule 

 they occur solitary or in pairs, but at times, and especially in the 

 winter, they associate in packs, sometimes of large numbers. They 

 live upon any mammals or birds that they can kill ; they carry off 



