368 
THE HYENA. 
the bones of the neck are often injured and 
grow together, the story arose that the hyena 
had hut one bone in its neck.” 
“And about its changing its colours?” 
asked Annie. “What should that arise 
from?” 
“ There is actually a wild canine in Africa, 
allied both to the dhole and the hyena, in 
which not only is there a great difference in 
different individuals, but the same indivi¬ 
dual differs greatly in his colours at different 
times of the year. This is the lycaon of 
ancient and modern authors, and the wilde 
honde of the Dutch colonists. The Cape va¬ 
riety—lycaon venaticus—is equal in stature 
to a tall greyhound, and stands very high 
on his legs. His head is broad and flat, 
with a blunt nose and very large ears; the 
neck, straight and stiff, resembles the 
hyena’s, and, like his, is furnished with a 
mane of stiff hairs. The colour is gene¬ 
rally yellowish, with white spots and black 
bands curiously dispersed and differing in 
almost every individual. Lycaons associate 
in packs and commit great depredations 
upon sheep: they seldom attack larger cat¬ 
tle, and when they do they invariably bite 
