S04 



CARNIVORES. 



for one they eat. Like the civet iu Java, jackals in the Wynaad district of Madi-as 

 feed on the i-ipe fnait of the coifee plant. 



Somewhat curiously, the jackal of Eastern Europe and Asia Minor agrees 

 with the Indian rather than with the African variety ; the general colour being a 

 pale dirty yellow, more or less tinged with rufous, with a variable amount of 

 black on the back. In the Morea, where these animals are very common, they 

 are asserted to be in the habit of disinterring dead bodies from the gravej'ards. 



The cry of a pack of jackals, when heard for the first time, strikes the ear 

 with a peculiarly blood-curdling chill, and gives the impression that it is uttered 

 by a much larger number of individuals than is really the case. Mr. Blanford 

 describes the cry as consisting of two parts : first, " a long wailing howl, three or 

 four times repeated, each note a little higher than the preceding, and then a 

 succession of usually three quick yelps, also repeated two or three times. The 

 common Anglo-Indian version of ' Dead Hindoo, where, where, where,' gives some 

 idea of the call." In the so-called variegated jackal of the Abyssinian Highlands, 

 which is sometimes regarded as specifically distinct from the ordinary North 

 African form, the second half of the cry is omitted. 



In addition to the ordinary cry there is, however, as the same writer remarks, 

 another very peculiar call, " only uttered by the jackal, it is believed, when a tiger 

 or a leopard is in the neighbourhood, and certainly uttered upon such occasions. 

 The cry is unmistakable ; I have several times heard it; but the jackal that makes 

 it carries us at once into the region of fable and folk-lore. The same story that 

 has existed on the shores of the Mediterranean for two thousand years at least, 

 that a jackal acts as scout for the lions, or ' lions' provider,' and is repaid \)y a 

 share of the prey, is commonly believed with regard to the tiger in IncUa ; and it 

 is this peculiar jackal, known as Pheal, Phiou, or Phnew, in Northern India, the 

 name being taken from the ciy, and as Bhalu, or Kol-bhalu in Southern and 

 Western India, that is said to invariably precede the tiger, and to make the call 

 just noticed. Several observers have, however, remarked tliat the jackal which 

 makes the cry follows the tiger and does not precede him ; and Blyth has observed 

 that a pariah dog, on sniffing a collection of caged tigers in Calcutta, set up a most 

 extraordinaiy howl, probably similar to that of the Pheal." 



Occasionally the skull of the jackal has a peculiar bony process growing from 

 the upper part of the occiput, which is said to be covered during life by a horny 

 sheath, concealed among the hair, forming the so-called "jackal's hom." The 

 female jackal generally gives birth to her young in a hole in the ground, although 

 they have been found in an old drain ; the number of cubs in a litter being 

 usually from three to five. The pariah dogs of India breed freely with the jackal. 

 Fossil remains of the jackal occur in the Siwalik Hills of Northern India. 

 The Black-Backed The black-backed jackal (CVnn'.s mesomelas), is a very distinct 

 Jackal. African species. The adults of both sexes are characterised by their 

 briglit coloration, the sides of the body being red, the limbs and the upper part 

 of the tail reddi.sh yellow ; while the back of the bodj' and the end of the tail are 

 black. In some cases the line of division between the black of the back and the 

 red of the sides is more distinct than in others, and the size of the black area is 

 also subject to variation, although invariably widest over the shoulders. The 



