Canis aureus. Linn.

The Jackal, one of the greatest pests of the countries which he inhabits, is spread over nearly the whole of Asia and the north of Africa, occupying in the warmer regions of those continents the place of the Wolf, of whom in many particulars he may be considered as offering a miniature resemblance. In size he is about equal to the common fox, but he differs from that equally troublesome animal in the form of the pupils of his eyes, which correspond with those of the dog and of the wolf, in the comparative shortness of his legs and muzzle, in his less tufted and bushy tail, and in the peculiar marking of his coat. The colouring of his back and sides consists[98] of a mixture of gray and black, which is abruptly and strikingly distinguished from the deep and uniform tawny of his shoulders, haunches, and legs: his head is nearly of the same mixed shade with the upper surface of his body, as is also the greater p............