NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



in the Fauna oj South Africa, will enable the reader 

 to identify this jackal : 



" Form rather stout ; general colour silvery grey, 

 rather blacker on the back ; on either side of the 

 body a more or less distinct diagonal white stripe, 

 with a similar black one bordering it below ; the 

 hair on the back is long, from three to four inches, 

 and consists of a rather coarse, pale reddish under- 

 fur, beyond which project longer black hairs with a 

 broad white sub-terminal band ; the regular ar- 

 rangement of the bands on these long hairs causes 

 the side stripe ; head speckly-grey with a rufous 

 tinge, ears short, about three inches long only, 

 posteriorly the same colour as the head, anteriorly 

 with a few long white hairs ; chin pale brown con- 

 trasting with the rufous-brown throat and chest ; 

 limbs with a slight rufous -brown tinge and traces of 

 a black transverse band above the hocks on the hind 

 legs ; tail about half the length of the head, and 

 body covered with long hairs, but not so brush-like 

 as in the other species ; basal third yellowish, 

 distal two-thirds mingled black and yellowish, tip 

 pure white. 



" The female is considerably lighter in colour, 

 much less rufous, and with the side stripes very 

 faintly marked." 



It is not, however, usually necessary to puzzle 

 through all the above detail to recognise the differ- 

 ence between the two species. The following is 

 the chief difference : 



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