QUADRUPEDS. 



33 



hair is of a dusky lead color at base, of a dull cinnamon in the 

 middle of its length, and gray or black at tip, being of greater 

 length along the middle of the back and other parts of the body. 

 The ears are erect and rounded at tip, having the hair on the back 

 part of a cinnamon color, and dark plumbeous at base, while that 

 on the inside is gray. 



THE BLACK WOLF. 



THE AMERICAN BLACK WOLF. The American black wolf, al- 

 though less common than the other varieties, is considered more 

 dangerous and ferocious, sometimes making sad havoc among 

 sheep and lambs. It is found more or less abundant throughout 

 the wooded districts of the Canadas, the northern states, and of the 

 entire Alleghany range, to their termination in Georgia. 



The length of this animal is about five feet eight inches, of 

 which the tail occupies one foot eight inches ; the height at the 

 fore shoulders about two feet three inches, and the girth of the 

 body about two feet seven inches. The general color of the body 

 is brownish-black, somewhat mottled with darker shades; the 

 belly much lighter, with a broad stripe of black, undefined at the 

 edges, running up the breast ; the back blackish, very slightly 

 mottled with white, caused by the intermixture of different hairs ; 

 the body is covered with a soft, thick down, light gray it the roots, 

 3* 



