CANIS. 137 



children, sheep, and goats, and when pressed by hunger attack 

 men. Hoi'ses and cattle are only killed when several wolves com- 

 bine. Carrion is readily eaten by these animals, and in case of 

 need they are said to feed upon vegetable substances, such as buds 

 of trees, lichens, and moss. 



.Although wolves prey to a considerable extent by night, they 

 are by no means exclusively nocturnal in their habits. Their 

 principal cry is a loud howl, which serves as a call. 



The pairing-time is from December to April, the period of ges- 

 tation 63 days, so that the young, varying in number from four to 

 nine, are born in the spring or early summer. Wolves breed in 

 thickets or in holes in the ground. The whelps are not full-grown 

 and capable of propagating until the third year after their birth. 

 The duration of life is from 12 to 15 years. Young wolves are 

 easilv tamed. 



68. Canis pallipes. The Indian Wolf. 



Canis pallipes, Sykes, P. Z. S. 1831, p. 101 j Blyth, Cat. p. 39 ; 



Jerdon, Mam. p. 139. 

 Canis lupus, Elliot, Madr. Journ. L. S. x, p. 101 ; Blyth, J. A, S. B. 



xi, p. 596. 



B/ierit/a, Gurq, Honddr, Nekra, Bighdna, H. ; Bagydr, Sindhi ; Ldndyd, 

 Gond and Dakh'ini ; Tola, Can. ; Toralu, Tel. 



Structure generally similar to that of C. lupus, but the animal 

 is smaller and slighter, and the fur shorter, with little or no woolly 

 underfur. Mammae 10. 



Colour. Greyish fulvous, usually with a brownish tinge, some- 

 times much mixed with black on the back ; some have a reddish 

 tinge, and occasionally it is said that a thoroughly rufous indivi- 

 dual is met with. All I have seen are, however, browner than 

 C. lupus generally is, and of an earthy grey colour. Hair of 

 varying shades of light brown from the base to near the end ; tips 

 black on the back. Coarse white hairs are mixed with the finer 

 fur near the skin. The hairs on the tail have generally black tips. 

 Lower parts dingy white. The young are sooty brown, with a 

 milk-white chest-spot, which disappears about the sixth week from 

 birth, when a dark collar appears below the neck, but is lost at 

 maturity. 



Dimensions. Head and body about 3 feet, tail with hair 16 to 17 

 inches. Skull of an adult male from Sambhar 6'85 inches in basal 

 length, 4'4 broad. Weight of a female 42 Ibs. 



Distribution. The Indian Peninsula south of the Himalayas, 

 especially in open plain country ; rare in wooded districts and 

 amongst hills. I have never heard of this species occurring on the 

 Malabar coast. Rare in Lower Bengal. Unknown further east : 

 not found in the Himalaya, and apparently replaced by C. lupus 

 beyond the Indus, though occasionally seen west of the river. No 

 wolf has been recorded from Ceylon. 



