THE PRAIRIE WOLF, OR COYOTE. 387 
pointer shows, in anger, a slight though decided “ mane.” The 
mane of the coyoté is very conspicuous, the longest hairs over the 
back measuring four to six inches. The furring of the tail is as 
extremely diverse. The tail of a coyoté ordinarily droops to the 
suffrago, the hairs reaching beyond half-way to the heels; it is per- 
fectly straight ; the “ brush ” is terete-tapering, perhaps not quite 
so full for its length as that of a fox: in absolute size it is just 
jntermediate between that of a Vulpes velox and V. macrourus, 
both of which are smaller animals. But furring aside, we find in 
the total lack of curve in the thorough-bred pointer’s tail, a curious 
coincidence if nothing more. This straightness, prized by sports- 
men, the result of breeding, and often cruelly insured by removal 
of the terminal joints so that some of the tendons lose insertion, 
is a feature in which the pointer departs from most dogs (the curly 
tail has been laid down as a specific characteristic of ‘Canis famili- 
aris”), and resumes that of the coyoté. 
Fortuitous conditions of pelage aside, the physiognomy, an 
almost equally casual matter, is the most striking difference be- 
tween the two. It is difficult to portray an animal’s facial expres- 
sion in words; in this case we can hardly do better than to say 
that the aspect is just between a wolf’s and a fox’s, but more 
“doggy” than either. Audubon’s figure is good; if anything, the 
front view of the upper figure is too “ foxy.” The coyoté’s face 
would be exactly matched by that of many cur-dogs, especially 
slender-nosed kinds, did it not lack almost entirely the frontal 
prominence of the latter, a feature which in some kinds of lap- 
dogs is exaggerated into monstrosity. The upper profile of the 
Coyoté’s face, from occiput to snout, deviates not much from a 
Straight line, the forehead being remarkably flat. This flatness 
gives an appearance of breadth that is deceptive, the real width 
being both absolutely and relatively less than in the pointer. But 
the width across the ears of the pointer (six inches instead of four) 
is largely produced by the drooping of these organs down the side 
of the head. The lips are thin and scant, ordinarily showing th 
teeth, always parting after the animal is dead. There is some- 
thing peculiar about the eyes ; they seem to look more directly for- 
ward than those of the pointer. They are set very near together» 
the inner angles being only about an inch and a half apart, yet the 
obliquity carries the outer canthi over three inches apart. The 
fats are very large, triangular, pointed, upright, with very stiff 
