The Eog Tribe. 109 



the eggs of which it destroys in great numbers. Not 

 being able to pierce the thick shell with its tiny jaws, 

 it rolls the egg against a stone, or other hard substance, 

 and so contrives to obtain the contents. 



Passing by the Otocyon and the Fennec, we come 

 to the last of the dog tribe which can be mentioned in 

 this paper, and whose position in the family is as yet 

 very uncertain. This is the Hunting Dog (Lycaon 

 Tenaticus], which has been thought to constitute a 

 connecting link between the dog tribe and the hyaenas ; 

 a final decision, however, has not as yet been arrived 

 at. In fact, the characteristics of the hyaenas and the 

 dogs are so curiously intermixed in this strange animal, 

 that it must be a matter of extreme difficulty to rele- 

 gate it to its true position in the scale of creation. 



The colour of the hunting dog is a reddish-brown, 

 mottled with black-and-white patches ; the nose and 

 jaws are black, and a black streak runs along the head 

 between the eyes. The ears are large, and the tail is 

 long and bushy. 



Like the dhole and the buansuah, the hunting 

 dog combines in large packs for the purpose of 

 procuring game, generally choosing the night-time for 

 its predatory excursions. Its sense of scent is won- 

 derfully keen, and its speed very great, and it is but 

 seldom that the hunted animal is allowed to escape. 



It will be seen that, although the cat and dog tribes 

 both include some of the larger carnivora, the two 

 families are, in structure as well as in habits, essentially 

 different ; and that the distinctions between the do- 

 mestic cat and dog are no greater than between their 

 more savage relatives which have never known the 

 loss of freedom. 



