iv THE HOUND OF THE PLAINS IOI 



west, then, he is a creature of the open country, 

 leaving high mountains and forested regions to 

 the large gray "mountain" or "timber" wolf 

 (Cants lupus). Perhaps this is less his choice than 

 his necessity, for in Mexico and Central America 

 he seeks his food more often in forests than else- 

 where, yet keeps his characteristic cunning and 

 cowardice, becoming there the wild dog of the 

 jungles, as in the north he is the hound of the 

 plains. It is that tropical region, indeed, which 

 gives us his name, for "coyote" comes from the 

 pure Nahuatl word coyotl, the final / softened into 

 an e. This ultimate must not be lost in the pronun- 

 ciation, which is coy-o'te, in three syllables, not 

 ki-yot, as often heard. The word is translated in 

 the old Nahuatl-Spanish dictionaries by the Span- 

 ish adibe, a term applied to the African jackals. 

 It is also employed as a terminal of generic signifi- 

 cation for all similar animals, as Dr. Daniel G. 

 Brinton has explained. Thus tlal-coyotl, from 

 tlalli, earth, and coyotl, is a big burrowing animal 

 found in Mexico. The derivation of coyotl, indeed, 

 appears to be from the root coy-, which means a 

 hole, alluding, of course, to the burrowing habits. 

 I have met, in an indigenous Calif ornian language, 

 a very similar word which is said to mean "hill- 

 dog." 



When this wolf cannot find a natural hollow in 

 the earth to suit him, nor evict some unhappy 

 hare, prairie-dog, or badger, he digs for himself a 



