10 THE COMMON WOLF. 



It is very rarely that its voice is heard, and it does not howl like the 

 European Wolf. Its breeding-time is from about the middle of October 

 to about the end of December, but mostly in December. The young 

 cubs are blind, and have the ears drooping. Their general colour is 

 sooty brown on the surface, the roots of the hairs being a light tan 

 colour, especially on the head and flanks. They have a milk-white 

 chest-spot, and often the tip of the tail is white. After a time the 

 chest-spot disappears, and is replaced by a temporary dark collar 

 beneath the neck *. 



The Indian Wolf is remarkable both for its speed and its powers of 

 endurance. Dr. Jerdori tells us f : " I have known wolves turn on 

 dogs that were running at their heels and pursue them smartly till 

 close up to my horse. A wolf once joined with my greyhounds in 

 pursuit of a fox, which was luckily killed almost immediately after- 

 wards, or the wolf might have seized one of the dogs instead of the fox. 

 He sat down on his haunches about sixty yards off, whilst the dogs 

 were worrying the fox, looking on with great apparent interest, and 

 was with difficulty driven away." 



The American variety of the wolf, which has been named Cants 

 occidentalis J, cannot, we are persuaded, be considered a distinct species 

 from that of Europe. The differences which exist between its extreme 

 varieties are greater than any which exist between those forms of 

 European and American wolves which are most alike, as also are the 

 differences which exist between extreme varieties of the European 

 Wolf. 



We have examined a number of skins, endeavouring with the 

 greatest care to detect specific characters. We have found the 

 American forms less red than most European ones, especially on the 

 legs and hinder part of the head ; but in this they agree with specimens 

 from Northern Europe. The American skins have generally more black 

 on the back than most European ones, yet not so much as may be 

 found in many Spanish wolves. 



* See E. Bonavia in ' Nature,' vol. xii. (1875), p. 67. 



t Loc. cit. p. 141. 



J Richardson, * Fauna Boreali-Americana ' (Murray, 1829), p. 60. 



