JACKALS. 



o"o 



individual hairs of the body are ringed with black and white or red and wliite, 

 .so as to produce a speckled appearance in the fur. The under-parts of the body 

 and the inner sides of the limbs are neai'ly wliite, the ears and j)art of the face 

 being yellowish bro\vn. This striking coloration occurs, however, only in tlie 

 adult condition, the fur of the j'oung being a uniform dusky brown. The dark 

 band on the neck so often found in the common jackal is absent. The ears are 

 very long. 



The black -backed jackal was obtained by Mr. Blanford in Abyssinia, but not 



BLACK-BACKED JACKAL (i liat. size). 



at such high elevations as the common species. The northerly limit of this jackal 

 is Middle Xubia, from whence its range extends alon^ the East Coast of Africa to 

 the Cape, although there are many places in this tract of country where it is 

 apparently absent. In South Africa it extends across the continent, and up the 

 western side as far as Mossamedes, but it is unknown in the Congo district. This 

 jackal occurs both in the open country and in bush jungle. In the sandy regions 

 on the shores of the Red Sea it is to be found frequently in the small thickets 

 covering the banks of the ravines, which swarm with hares and pangolins, upon 

 which the jackal feeds. At night it visits the villages of the natives, and in 

 Somaliland it is stated to bite off the fat tails of the sheep. In the Sudan it lives 

 ■chiefly upon the smaller antelopes, mice, jerboas, and other Rodents. In South 



