JACKALS. 
353 
nate hostility towards him which the canines 
of the Old World show, towards the tiger. 
. “We next come to the jackals, so well 
known to all travellers in the East and to 
all readers of their hooks. The jackals are 
a group of nocturnal or crepuscular ani¬ 
mals.” 
“What is the meaning of crepuscular?” 
asked Daisy. 
“ It means twilight, and is a word applied 
to such animals as rove abroad and seek 
their prey by twilight, either of morning or 
evening. Thus, some moths are called cre¬ 
puscular, because they never fly during day¬ 
light or after dark. The jackal comes 
abroad just about the dusk of the evening 
and continues hunting the whole night, de¬ 
vouring every thing that comes in his way, 
entering towns and villages to feast upon 
the offal thrown into the streets, robbing 
hen-roosts and ill-secured storehouses, dig¬ 
ging up graves that are not well guarded, 
and entering the vineyards to feast upon 
the grapes as soon as they begin to ripen. 
But their v#ices cause much more annoy¬ 
ance to those in their neighbourhood even 
than their thievish habits. It is a melan- 
30 * 
