20 



MAMMALOGY. 



point to which we have alluded. Dr. Pickering regards the animal of 

 Oregon and California now before us, as specifically distinct from the 

 Canis Jatram, but expresses a suspicion that it may be the young of 

 the common wolf [Lupus occidentalis) . He first mentions it at Puget 

 Sound, under date of 21st of July, 1841 : 



"A third species, apparently of Lupus, is found here, and of which 

 I have seen skins. It is called here ' the Prairie Wolf,' but is not the 

 species usually meant by that name [Lupus latrans). Its colors are 

 much the same as in the large wolf, of which it may be the young." 



Under date of 22d of August, at which time a party to which he 

 was attached from the Expedition were engaged in a boat voyage up 

 the Sacramento River, he says : 



" A specimen of the Coyote was shot to-day by Mr. Hammersly. It 

 is very similar to the small wolf of Oregon, but the head in this speci- 

 men appears to be longer and the snout more pointed. The colors 

 are very nearly the same, the tail reaches a little below the joint of 

 the tihia and tarsus, and is blackish at the tip. The voice of this 

 animal is a bark, very much like that of a dog, and also a prolonged 

 howl. It is certainly not the same as the Lupus latrans!'' 



Subsequently, we find in the journal of Dr. Pickering : 



" The Coyote, I am assured by Dr. Marsh, is the same animal as 

 that of the Upper Mississippi, and inhabits the entire intermediate 

 country to the Pacific Ocean, but he thinks it not the same as the 

 Prairie Wolf of more southern states on the same river." 



Mr. Peale regards the animal of Oregon and California as identical 

 with Canis latrans, Say, under which name he thus alludes to it : 



" In Oregon, we saw this wolf wherever the country partook of a 

 ' prairie' character, or in other words, where the forests were not ex- 

 tensive ; but it is not so abundant there as in the Buffalo country 

 east of the Rocky Mountains. As we journeyed south into Cali- 

 fornia, following the waters of the Sacram-ento River, we found it 

 increasing in numbers. In California, thousands of cattle are annually 

 slaughtered for their skins and tallow only, the bodies of which are 

 left for the vultures and Coyotes, and as a consequence of food in 

 plenty with but trifling molestation, these wolves have multiplied 

 and have become very bold thieves. They frequently entered our 

 camp at night and stole venison, geese, or whatever food was left 

 within their reach, and on one occasion, they carried off a Grizzly 

 Bear's skin from the door of a tent in front of a fire. They are very 



