yards, then yawned in a bored manner, 

 and slowly trotted off. It is my belief 

 that these animals knew perfectly well 

 my inability to shoot." Not infrequently 

 they will follow a hunter, always remain- 

 ing at a safe distance, in order to feed 

 upon the remains of game or food that 

 he may drop. 



Coyotes show great cunning when 

 hunting large game, such as deer and 

 antelopes. At such a time, a large pack 

 takes part in the chase. Spreading out, 

 they form a circle, if possible, around the 

 game, in which it is kept in constant mo- 

 tion, until exhausted. Smaller game 

 they may hunt singly or in pairs. 



They exhibit considerable wisdom in 

 avoiding traps and are very rarely caught 

 in this manner. Their gluttonous appe- 

 tite, however, commonly gets them into 

 trouble, for they are killed by poisoned 

 meat, in great numbers, in regions where 

 they are the most troublesome. 



The Coyote can be tamed. Brehm 

 speaks of one of which he had the keep- 

 ing. It was raised in a house and was 

 as docile as "a good-natured dog, but 

 only toward acquaintances. His actions 

 were those of the domestic dog in every 

 respect." He would leap with joy and 

 wag his tail at the sight of his friends. 

 When alone, he was very unhappy and 

 gave voice to pitiful howls. He always 

 showed a deep interest in the complain- 

 ings of other animals and always "joined 

 in the howl of wolves and even respond- 

 ed to the roar or growl of bears." One 

 of his most interesting characteristics 

 was his action when spoken to in a plain- 

 tive or pitying tone of voice. At such 

 times "he howled or whined as some do- 

 mestic dogs do under similar circum- 

 stances." Music also influenced him to 

 utter loud outcries, but his howling at 

 such times was evidently not meant to be 

 taken seriously. 



Seth Mindwell. 



WATER DOGS, 



Did you ever see a Water-dog? No? 

 Then you will enjoy a trip with me to 

 the home of this curious little reptile. 



Scarcely a mile from the northern city 

 limits of Los Angeles, California, lies a 

 range of foothills of the Sierra Madre 

 Mountains. At the base of one of these 

 ranges, in a beautiful little canyon, a 

 small mountain stream winds its way — ■ 

 a stream that is small during the dry 

 summer months but a veritable torrent 

 after a hard winter rain. 



The sides of the hills, which rise 

 abruptly several hundred feet above this 

 mountain brook, are cool and inviting 

 the year around, as their slopes are 

 shaded by the stately live-oak trees, 

 which, as the name indicates, are green 

 the entire year. The leaves of these trees 

 differ from those of its eastern sister — 

 the burr-oak — in that they are small and 

 oval in shape and have edges armed with 

 small points. Though the leaves are so 

 small, the great number of them makes 

 a dense shade. 



There is also the ever green holly 

 bush, which at Christmas time is ablaze 

 with scarlet berries, — the sage, and a 

 great variety of beautiful ferns and wild 

 flowers, which add their glory to these 

 hills. 



It is little wonder that this beauty spot 

 is chosen by many a picnic party. Such 

 a party was enjoying themselves one 

 June day, when one of the children spied 

 some curious little objects slowly swim- 

 ming through the water. At this time of 

 year the little stream was very shallow, 

 and its curious occupants easily captured. 



They were conveyed home in a pail of 

 water, together with several sticks to 

 which were attached small, milk-white 

 globes resembling gelatine, and supposed 

 to be eggs of the queer little animal. 

 Arriving home, a wise older member of 

 the family informed the children that 

 their queer pets were "Water-dogs," or 

 "Mud-puppies." 



These Water-dogs belong to the genus 

 Ambly stoma, which is the type of the 



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