100 WILD NEIGHBORS CHAP. 



Such is the coyote : genus loci of the plains : 

 an Ishmaelite of the desert : consort of rattlesnake 

 and vulture : the tyrant of his inferiors : the jackal 

 of the puma: once a hanger-on upon the flanks 

 of the buffalo herds, and now the pest of the 

 cattlemen and sheep herders : the pariah of his own 

 race, and despised by mankind. 



Withal, he maintains himself, and his tribe in- 

 creases. He outstrips animals fleeter than him- 

 self. He foils those of far greater strength than 

 his own. He excels all rivals in cunning and in- 

 telligence. He furnishes the Indian with a breed 

 of domestic dogs, and makes an interesting exhibit 

 in menageries and trick-shows. 



The coyote is little known at present east of the 

 bunch-grass plains. In early days, however, he 

 was common enough in the open country of Ar- 

 kansas, Missouri, Illinois, and northward, whence 

 he received the names "prairie-wolf," "red" and 

 "barking" wolf. Threading the passes regardless 

 of altitude, he wanders among all the foothills of 

 the complicated mountain-system that forms the 

 "crest of the continent," and dwells too plentifully 

 in the Californian valleys, thriving upon what he 

 can pilfer from the ranch-yards and corrals, and 

 on the young calves or lambs that he is now and 

 then able to steal from the flock. Hence he there 

 passes his life continually on guard against guns, 

 traps, and poison. 



In the United States and the Canadian North- 



