154 NATURAL HTXTORY. 



is often separately considered as Canis occidentalis. It differs from the European kind chiefly in its 

 fur being finer, denser, and longer, and in the curious fact that its feet are, as Sir John Richardson 

 remarks, very broad, so as to enable it to run easily on the snow. The development of these natural 

 snow-shoes in the American Wolf fitting it so beautifully for its particular mode of life is highly 

 interesting. This species is entirely absent from South America, but its wide distribution in North 

 America may be gathered from Richardson's account : 



" Wolves are found in greater or less abundance in different districts, but they may be said to be 

 very common throughout the northern regions ; their footmarks may be seen by the side of every 

 stream, and a traveller can rarely pass a night in these wilds without hearing them howling around 

 him. They are very numerous on the sandy plains which, lying to the eastward of the Rocky 

 Mountains, extend from the sources of the Peace and Saskatchewan Rivers towards the Missouri. 

 There bands of them hang on the skirts of the Buffalo herds, and prey upon the sick and straggling 

 Calves. They do not, under ordinary circumstances, venture to attack the full-grown animal ; for the 

 hunters informed me that they often see Wolves walking through a herd of Bulls without exciting the 

 least alarm ; and the marksmen, when they crawl towards a Buffalo for the purpose of shooting it, 

 occasionally wear a cap with two ears, in imitation of the head of a Wolf, knowing from experience 

 that they will be suffered to approach nearer in that guise."* 



The American Wolf extends into Greenland, where the Eskimo take it in traps of a very 

 novel construction, " made of strong slabs of ice, long and narrow, so that a Fox can with difficulty 

 turn himself in it; but a Wolf must actually remain in the position in which he is taken. 

 The door is a heavy portcullis of ice, sliding in two well-secured grooves of the same substance, and is 

 kept up by a line, which, passing over the top of the trap, is carried through a hole at the farthest 

 extremity ; to the end of the line is fastened a small hoop of whalebone, and to this any kind of flesh 

 bait is attached. From the slab which terminates the trap a projection of ice, or a peg of wood or 

 bone, points inwards near the bottom, and under this the hoop is lightly hooked ; the slightest pull at 

 the bait liberates it, the door falls in an instant, and the Wolf is speared where he lies." 



There are no less than five varieties of the North American Wolf, to all of which separate specific 

 names have been given by authors. They are : the Common Grey Wolf (Lupus griseus), the White 

 Wolf (Lupus albus), the Pied Wolf (Lupus sticte), the Dusky Wolf (Lupus nubilus), and the Black 

 Wolf (Lupus ater.) All these differ from one another only in the lesser details of colouring and other 

 minor characters. In their habits they resemble one another entirely, and it is therefore unnecessary 

 to do more than mention them. 



The Coyote, or Prairie Wolff occurs, along with the common North American Wolf, as far south 

 as Mexico ; its northern range being about the 55th degree of latitude. 



" The Prairie Wolf has much resemblance to the Common Grey Wolf in colour ; but differs from 

 it so much in size, voice, and manners, that it is fully entitled to rank as a distinct species. It inhabits 

 the plains of the Missouri and Saskatchewan, and also, though in smaller numbers, those of Columbia. 

 On the banks of the Saskatchewan, these animals start from the earth in great numbers on hearing the 

 report of a gun, and gather around the hunter in expectation of getting the offal of the animal he has 

 slaughtered. They hunt in packs, and are much more fleet than the Common Wolf. I was informed 

 by a gentleman who has resided forty years on the Saskatchewan, and is an experienced hunter, that 

 the only animal on the plains which he could not overtake, when mounted on a good Horse, was the 

 Prong-horned Antelope, and that the Meesteh-chaggoneesh, or Prairie Wolf, was the next in speed." 



" The fur of the Prairie Wolf is of the same quality with that of the Grey Wolf, and consists of 

 long hairs, with a thick wool at their base. The wool has a smoky or dull lead colour ; the long hairs 

 on the back are either white for their whole length, or they are merely tipped with black. The 

 prevailing colour along the spine is dark blackish-grey, sprinkled with white hairs. Its cheeks, upper 

 lip, chin, throat, belly, and insides of the thighs, are white. There is a light-brown tint upon the 

 upper surface of the nose, on the forehead, and between the ears, on the shoulders, on the sides, where 

 it is mixed with grey, and on the outsides of the thighs and legs. The tail is grey and brown, with a 

 black tip. Some individuals have a broad black mark on the shins of the fore-legs, like the European 



* Richardson: "Fauna Boreali- Americana," 1829. t Canis latranj. 



