three years for their growth, and live to the age of fifteen or twenty years. The body of the wolf is about three and a half feet long.

The wolf grows gray as he grows old, and his teeth wear, like those of most other animals, by using. He sleeps when his belly is full, or when he is fatigued, rather by day than night, and is always very easily waked. He drinks frequently; and in times of drought, when there is no water to be found in the trunks of trees, or in pools about the forest, he comes often, in the day, down to brooks or lakes in the plain. Although very voracious, he yet supports hunger for a long time, and often lives four or five days without food, provided he is supplied with water.

The wolf has great strength, particularly in his fore parts, in the muscles of his neck and jaws. He carries off a sheep in his mouth, without letting it touch the ground, and runs with it much swifter than the shepherds who pursue him, so that nothing but the dogs can overtake him, or oblige him to quite his prey. He bites cruelly, and always with greater vehemence in proportion as he is less resisted; for he uses precautions with such animals as attempt to stand upon the defensive. He is cowardly, and never fights but when under the necessity of satisfying his hunger, or of making good his retreat. When he is wounded by a bullet, he is heard to cry out; and yet, when surrounded by the peasants, and attacked with clubs, he never howls, but defends himself in silence, and dies as hard as he lived.

If he happens to be caught in a pit-fall, he is for some time so frightened and astonished, that he may be killed without offering to resist, or taken alive without much danger. At that instant, one may clap a collar round his neck, muzzle him, and drag him along, without his even giving the least signs of anger or resentment. At all other times, he has his senses in great perfection. He smells a carcass at the distance of more than a league; he also perceives living animals a great way off, and follows them a long time upon the scent. Whenever he leaves the wood, he always takes care to go out against the wind. When just come to its extremity, he stops to examine, by its smell, on all sides, the emanations that may come either from his enemy or his prey, which he very nicely distinguishes. He prefers those animals which he himself kills to those he finds dead; and yet he does not disdain these, though ever so much infected, when no better are to be had. He is particularly fond of human flesh; and, perhaps, if he were sufficiently powerful, he would eat no other. Wolves have been seen following armies, and arriving in numbers upon the field of battle, where they devoured such dead bodies as were left upon the field, or but negligently interred. These, when once accustomed to human flesh, ever after seek particularly to attack mankind, choose to fall upon the shepherd rather than his flock, and devour women, carry off their children, &c.

The color of this animal differs according to the different climates in which he is bred, and often changes even in the same country. Besides the common wolves which are found in France and Germany, there are others

with thicker hair, inclining to yellow, In the northern climates, some are found quite black, and some white all over. The former are larger and

stronger than those of any other kind.

THE CLOUDED BLACK WOLF.1

THIS animal is a native of the extreme northern regions of America. It is a much nobler looking creature than the common species, and is also much larger and more robust. The ears are remarkably short, and the tail is shorter in proportion than that of the wolf. The hair is mottled with various shades of black, gray, and white, and is of considerable length, particularly along the middle of the back and shoulders, where it forms a sort of ill defined mane. On the sides the coloring is somewhat lighter, and is of a still lighter shade beneath. From the top of the nose to the origin of the tail, this animal measures about four feet and a quarter. Its ferocity remains undiminished by protracted confinement.

THE AMERICAN WOLF.

THE Common wolf of America is considered to be the same species as the wolf of Europe, and, in regard to habits and manners, gives every evidence of such an identity.*

1 Canis Lycaon, LIN.

*Richardson remarks that he has travelled over thirty degrees of latitude in America, and has never seen there any wolves which had the gaunt appearance, the comparatively long jaw and tapering nose, the high ears, long legs, slender loins, and narrow feet of the Pyrenean wolf. He adds, that the American animal has a more robust form than the European wolf. Its muzzle is thicker and more obtuse, its head larger and rounder, and there is a sensible depression at the union of the nose and forehead. He notices six varieties of the wolf in North America :-common gray wolf, white, pied, dusky, black, and prairie. There is little reason to doubt that all the wolves of America are of one species; and the variations of size, color, and habits, are to be referred to diversities of climate which have been gradually impressed upon these animals.

Like all the wild animals of the dog kind, they unite in packs to hunt down animals which individually they could not master, and, during their sexual season, engage in the most furious combats with each other for the possession of the females.

In the regions west of Hudson's Bay, wolves are often seen, both in the woods and on the plains, though their numbers are inconsiderable, and it is not common to see more than three or four in a pack. They appear to be very fearful of the human race, but are destructive to the Indian dogs, and frequently succeed in killing such as are heavily laden, and unable to keep up with the rest. The males are not so swift as the females; and they seem to lead a forlorn life during the winter, being seldom seen in pairs until the commencement of spring. They bring forth their young in burrows, and though it might well be inferred that they are fiercer at those times, than under ordinary circumstances, yet Hearne states that he has frequently seen the Indians take the young ones from the dens and play with them. They never hurt the young wolves, but always replace them in their dens, sometimes painting the faces of these whelps with vermilion or red ochre.

At the highest northern latitudes which have yet been explored, the wolves are very numerous and very audacious. They are generally to be found at no great distance from the huts of the Esquimaux, and follow these people from place to place, being apparently very much dependent upon them for food, during the coldest season of the year. They are frequently seen in packs of twelve or more, prowling about at a short distance from the huts of the Esquimaux, lying in wait for the Esquimaux dog, which they are successful in killing, if he wanders so far as to be out of reach of assistance from his master.

When the aboriginal Americans first gave place to European adventurers, and the forests, which had flourished for ages undisturbed, began to fall before the unsparing axe, the vicinity of the settler's lonely cabin resounded with the nightly howling of wolves, attracted by the refuse provision usually to be found there, or by a disposition to prey upon domestic animals. During winter, when food was most difficult to be procured, packs of these famished and ferocious creatures were ever at hand, to run down and destroy any domestic animal found wandering beyond the enclosures, which their individual or combined efforts could overcome, and the boldest housedog could not venture far from the door of his master without incurring the risk of being killed and devoured. The common wolf was then to be found in considerable numbers throughout a great extent, if not the whole of North America; at present, it is only known as a resident of the remote wooded and mountainous districts.

THIS Wolf frequents the prairies or natural meadows of the west, where troops or packs, containing a considerable number of individuals, are frequently seen following in the train of a herd of buffalo or deer, for the purpose of preying on such as may die from disease, or in consequence of wounds inflicted by the hunters. At night they also approach the encampment of travellers, whom they sometimes follow for the sake of the carcasses of animals which are relinquished, and, by their discordant howlings close to the tents, effectually banish sleep from those who are unaccustomed to their noise. According to Say's observation, they are more numerous than any of the other wolves which are found in North America. The barking wolf closely resembles the domestic dog of the Indians in appearance, and is remarkably active and intelligent. Like the common wolf, the individuals of this species frequently unite to run down deer, or a buffalo calf which has been separated from the herd, though it requires the fullest exercise of all their speed, sagacity, and strength to succeed in this chase. They are very often exposed to great distress from want of food, and in this state of famine are under the necessity of filling their stomachs with wild plums, or other fruits no less indigestible, in order to allay in some degree the inordinate sensations of hunger.

In confirmation of the sagacity of this wolf, we shall quote from Say, to whom we owe all that has yet been made known on this species, some anecdotes respecting it. "Mr Peale constructed and tried various kinds of traps to take them, one of which was of the description called a 'live trap,' a shallow box reversed and supported at one end by the well known kind of trap-sticks usually called the 'figare four,' which elevated the front of the trap upwards of three feet above its slab flooring; the trap was about six feet long, and nearly the same in breadth, and was plentifully baited with offal. Notwithstanding this arrangement, a wolf actually burrowed under the flooring, and pulled down the bait through the crevices of the floor.

1 Canis latrans, SAY.

tracks of different size were observed about the trap. This procedure would seem to be the result of a faculty beyond mere instinct.

"This trap proving useless, another was constructed in a different part of the country, formed like a large cage, through which the animals might enter, but not return; this was equally unsuccessful; the wolves attempted > in vain to get at the bait, as they would not enter by the route prepared for them. A large double steel trap' was next tried; this was profusely baited, and the whole, with the exception of the bait, was carefully concealed beneath the fallen leaves. This was also unsuccessful. Tracks of the anticipated victims were next day observed to be impressed in numbers on the earth near the spot, but still the trap with its seductive charge remained untouched. The bait was then removed from the trap, and suspended over it from the branch of a tree; several pieces of meat were also suspended in a similar manner from trees in the vicinity. The following morning the bait over the trap alone remained. Supposing that their exquisite sense of smell warned them of the position of the trap, it was removed and then covered with leaves, and the baits being disposed as before, the leaves to a considerable distance around were burned; and the trap remained perfectly concealed by ashes; still the bait over the trap was avoided. It was not until a log trap was used that an individual of this species was caught. This log trap is made by raising one log above another at one end by means of an upright stick, which rests upon a rounded horizontal trigger on the lower log."- Godman.

Is one of the commonest wild animals in the east, yet there is scarcely any one less known in Europe, or more confusedly described by naturalists. It