260 



THE WOLF. 



but when heard at a distance are thought by some sportsmen to possess a certain melody to 



initiated ears. 



The peculiar dark mottlings of the back form a band that extends from its neck and 

 shoulders to the tail, is very broad in front, passing over the withers as far as the shoulders, 

 and narrowing gradually towards the tail, where it becomes only two inches wide. The tail 

 is of a fawn color, and does not partake of this variable coloring, with the exception of the 

 tip, which is black. 



Lieutenant Burton remarks, that among the Somali the morning cry of the Jackal is used 

 as an omen of good or evil, according to its direction and its tone. He also mentions that it 

 is in the habit of attacking the peculiar fat-tailed sheep which inhabit that country, and car- 



c 



THE WOLF. Canii lupaster. 



rying off their lambs. The fat-burdened tail forms an article of diet which seems to be greatly 

 to the Jackal's taste, and which he procures by leaping suddenly upon the poor sheep, and 

 then making a fierce bite at its tail. The terrified sheep starts off at best speed, and leaves a 

 large mouthful of its tail between the Jackal's teeth. Kids and other small animals fall vic- 

 tims to this insatiate devourer. 



In that country the Jackal, called by the natives "Duwas," dances nightly attendance 

 upon the spotted hyena. 



WOLVES. 



FEW animals have earned so widely popular, or so little enviable, a fame as the WOLVES. 

 Whether in the annals of history, in fiction, in poetry, or even in the less honored, but hardly 

 less important, literature of nursery fables, the Wolf holds a prominent position among 

 animals. 



There are several species of Wolf, each of which species is divided into three or four 

 rarieties, which seem to be tolerably permanent, and by many observers are thotight to be 

 sufficiently marked to be considered as separate species. However, as even the members of 



