THE AFRICAN HUNTING DOG 105 



however, has it the remotest resemblance to that pro- 

 fessional scavenger. It has a very strong and distinctive 

 odour, and, under certain atmospheric conditions, the 

 proximity of a pack is quite obvious even to the human 

 nose. 



Naturalists have divided the Hunting Dog into several 

 local races, and it seems probable that the tendency of 

 the species is to become larger in size and lighter in 

 colour the farther it ranges south. The types found in 

 Somaliland and British East Africa are relatively small 

 in size, and the black in the coat strongly predominates, 

 while the extreme southern representatives from Cape 

 Colony, besides being much bigger animals, have ochre 

 or buff as their main colour, and comparatively little 

 black present. Between the two extremes are all kinds 

 of variations. In Hunting Dogs of the north-east Trans- 

 vaal, southern Rhodesia, and the neighbouring province 

 of Mo5ambique, the three colours are, on the whole, 

 evenly distributed, in some specimens one hue pre- 

 dominating, in others another. There is no doubt, how- 

 ever, that the males generally are very much darker 

 than the females and immature animals ; some of the 

 former, especially old ones, having hardly any white 

 upon them at all, and the yellow of a dark and dull shade ; 

 while among the latter, many though not all in- 

 dividuals are brilliantly marked in big splashes of yellow, 

 white, and black. During the winter season, too, the 

 coats of both sexes are longer and duller than in summer. 



The range of the Hunting Dog comprises the greater 

 part of Africa from the Sudan to the Cape, and no doubt 

 extends to some regions whence its existence has not 

 yet been reported. Notwithstanding its wide dis- 

 tribution, it is an animal comparatively seldom en- 

 countered by the sportsman, a fact largely accounted 



