THE CLOWN OF THE PRAIRIES 87 



close enough. At last he laid down by a cliff 

 and pretended to go to sleep. When I came al- 

 most near enough to photograph him he rose, 

 looked at me, yawned as though bored, and ran 

 away. A common prank of his is to lure a dog 

 from a camp or ranch to a point where the 

 coyote is safe, then to pounce upon the dog and 

 chase him back in confusion. 



As I sat one day on a hillside, watching the 

 antics of calves among a herd of cattle, two 

 coyotes trotted into the scene. They caused no 

 alarm and did not receive even a second look 

 from the cattle. Slowly and knowingly the 

 coyotes walked here and there among them, as 

 though selecting a victim or looking for one 

 whose days were numbered. Near me was a 

 crippled old cow that plainly did not have long 

 to live. The instant the coyotes came within 

 view of her one of them sat down, plainly satis- 

 fied with the outlook; and the other laid down 

 with the easy, contemptuous air of a cynic be- 

 fore a waiting feast. To add to the effective- 

 ness of the scene a number of magpies, which 

 usually are watchful enough to arrive first at 

 any promised feast, joined them. 



On an Arizona desert I saw two coyotes 

 walking along apparently without any heads. 

 What scheme are they up to now? was my first 

 thought as I stood looking at this magic scene. 



