DOGS, JACKALS, AND FENNECS 73 



appearance. Certainly its skull is very unlike that of a true wolf. It takes its 

 name from the district of Simen in the mountainous parts of Abyssinia, where it 

 lives on ibex and other game. In colour it is pale yellowish, or reddish brown, 

 with the under-parts and the front of the lower portion of the legs whitish, and 

 black mottlings on the upper surface of the black-tipped tail. 



The range of the black-backed jackal (C. mesomelas) includes Angola, South 

 and Central Africa, Somaliland, and central Nubia. This extremely handsome 

 species differs from the North African jackals by the brilliant coloration of both 

 sexes. Brownish red is the prevalent tint on the sides of the body and limbs, but 

 the whole back is black mingled with white or grey hairs, and the tail-tip is also 

 black, the under-parts and inner sides of the legs being almost white. This long- 

 eared jackal measures about 53 inches in length, inclusive of the tail, which is very 

 bushy, and about 14 inches long. In several of its habits it resembles a fox; 

 sleeping during the day in thick covert, and hunting by night, when it inflicts much 

 damage on flocks in the settled districts. In the wilder parts of the country its chief 

 prey includes the smaller kinds of antelopes and various rodents. The cubs are born in 

 a burrow, frequently that of an ant-bear, from which the rightful owner has been 

 ejected. The black-backed jackal is the only member of the group in which the 

 front of the fore-legs is not marked with black splashes. Nearly allied is the side- 

 striped jackal (C. adustus or C. lateralis), which ranges over a large area in central 

 and South Africa, extending from the Gabun to Kilimanjaro, and occurring also in 

 Angola, Nyasaland, Rhodesia, and the western Transvaal. Of rather stout build, 

 this species is distinguished by a long, fox-like muzzle, and the presence of a light 

 irregular stripe or stripes along the flanks. In general colour it is silvery grey, 

 rather darker on the back, and passing into rufous on the limbs. Its habits are 

 those of jackals generally. Some modern naturalists recognise several other 

 African jackals, but most of these, at any rate, are best regarded as races rather 

 than species. 



Of a totally different type is the kama fox or fennec (G. cama), an animal 

 somewhat smaller than the European species, with longer ears, and therefore in some 

 respects intermediate between the true foxes and the fennecs. Its range includes 

 Cape Colony, Natal, the Orange River Colony, and German South-west Africa. In 

 colour it is silvery grey above, yellowish on the flanks and under-parts, rufous on 

 the head, and brown on the muzzle ; the fur being soft and thick, and the long tail 

 very bushy. As this fox feeds chiefly on insects and fruits, it is not molested by 

 the colonial sheep or poultry farmers. 



In connection with these animals feeding on a diet of this nature, it may be 

 mentioned that an Indian jackal killed on the shores of Lake Tamblegam, Ceylon, 

 in August 1911, was found on dissection to have its stomach distended with a 

 great mass of winged white ants. These insects had been emerging from the nests 

 in great numbers for two or three days previously in the neighbourhood, and the 

 jackal had evidently made a hearty meal off one of the swarms. It has long been 

 known that Indian jackals will feed greedily on fruit, but there appeal's to be no 

 previous reference to white ants or others insects forming part of their diet. 



Another species, the pale fox (C. pallidus), a native of Senegambia, Nubia, 

 and Kordofan, is inferior in size to the last, but has relatively larger ears. In most 



