The Inheritance 19 
with unless systematically hunted, and this 
is also true of wildcats, though these are still 
abundant. There are two animals, however, 
that one sees frequently—the coyote and the 
jackrabbit, both very characteristic of the 
West, and one’s impressions of any South- 
Western landscape are apt to be coloured by 
the sudden leaping of a jackrabbit over a 
ridge, his great ears showing for an instant 
over the skyline, or the swift, silent skulking 
in the distance of a coyote; and if one is a 
student of animal life, the wonderful ease and 
freedom of motion, the implied potential 
energy will always hold the eye. 
One other feature of the fauna, particularly 
of Southern California, which will make an 
impression on the Eastern mind is the abun- 
dance of lizards. This radical difference in the 
reptilian fauna of East and West is apparent 
when we consider that in his Reptiles of the 
Pacific Coast and Great Basin, Van Den- 
burgh enumerates forty species of lizards and 
only three species of turtles. All, with the 
one exception of the Gila monster, are harm- 
less, while the rattlesnake is the only poison- 
ous serpent. Some of these lizards are 
graceful and rather pretty, albeit cursed 
with reptilian features. Wherever one goes, 
