D'Azara caught four males at different times which were identical, the smallest towards the end of September, which appeared to him to have been whelped at the end of July or the beginning of August. D'Azara'a friend Noseda caught another about two months old, and in the hope of domesticating it, fed it on raw beef, which it was unable to digest, and which caused its death. D'Azara and Noseda caught another afterwards, about three months old, and gave it raw beef hut seldom ; when it was given however the animal threw it up, and to prevent this its meat was cooked, but still it was not digested. This Aguara got loose from its chain and escaped. During its short captivity, if anybody approached, it growled and barked like a dog, but more vehemently and confusedly. It drank by lapping, and when feeding trod on the flesh, which it tore to pieces with its teeth. This animal was fond of rata, sugarcane, oranges, eggs, and small birds; but did not appear to be attracted by the poultry, which sometimes passed within its reach without its attempting to pounce upon them.
D'Azara further states that in a wild state they do not commit havoc on the herds or smaller flocks ; and as they inhabit only the extensive lowlands and marshes of Paraguay as far as the river Plata and near its mouth, he has no doubt that they feed on rats, guinea small birds, and certain vegetables, if these fall in their way; • but chiefly on snails, toads, frogs, and other reptiles, and ou the land crabs, which are abundant in the plains and sand-banks. They walk with very long paces, run much, and are, D'Azara adds, great plun derers, although they always fly from man, and even from dogs. They are solitary in their habits, and are said to swim well ; and in their wild state to utter no sound but gouaa,' which they often and loudly repeat so as to be heard at a great distance. The sexes have no very marked difference.
The Aguara Dogs (Dusicyon of Smith) are a distinct race; and so are the Aguara Foxes (Cerdocyon of the same author).
Jackals.
C. aurcus (Linnreus), the Jackal, or Techakkal, Chacal or Loup DorS of the French, Adive of Botha.
The dental formula of this species is that of the Dog. The pupil of the eye is round like those of the dog and wolf. Yellowish-gray above, whitish below ; thighs and legs yellow ; ears ruddy ; muzzle very pointed; tail reaching hardly to the heel (properly so called). The colours sometimes vary, and the back and sides are described by Mr. Bennett as of mixed gray and black, and as abruptly and strikingly distinguished from the deep and uniform tawny of the shoulders, haunches, and legs. The head nearly of the same mixed shade with the upper surface of the body.
It is an inhabitant of India, other parts of Asia, and Africa. Olivier
says that Jackals are met with from India and the environs of the Caspian Sea to Guinea, but that it is not certain that they are all of the same species.
The habits of the Jackal are gregarious, hunting in packs, and the pests of the countries where they are found, and where they burrow in the earth. In their hustings the Jackals will frequently attack the larger quadrupeds, but the smaller animals and the poultry are their most frequent prey. Their cry is very peculiar and piercing. Captain Beechey notices it as having something rather appalling when heard for the first time at night ; and he remarks, that as they nsually come in packs, the first shriek which is uttered is always the signal for a general chorus. "We hardly know," continues the Captain, "a sound which partakes less of harmony than that which is at present in question ; and indeed the sudden burst of the answering long protracted scream, succeeding immediately to the opening note, is scarcely less impressive than the roll of the thunder-clap immediately after a flash of lightning. The effect of this music is very much increased when the first note is heard in the distance (a circumstance which often occurs), and the answering yell bursts out from several points at once, within a few yards or feet of the place where the auditors are sleeping." These animals are said to devour the dead on the battle-field, and to scratch away the earth from the shallow graves in order to feed on the corpses.
John Hunter (` Phil. Trans.') has recorded the case of a female Jackal which whelped in this country. The period of gestation was about the same as that of the dog, and the whelps were blind at first.
The story of the Jackal being the lion's provider may have arisen from the notion that the yell of the pack gives notice to the lion that prey is on foot, or from the Jackal's being seen to feed on the rem nants of the lion's quarry.
Cuvier observes that it is not certain that all the Jackals are similar (` of tho same species'); those of Senegal, for example the Dieb, (Canis anthus, F. Cuvier), he remarks, stand higher on the legs, and appear to have the muzzle sharper and the tail rather longer.
The offensive odour of the Jackal has been given as one of the reasons against reducing it to a state of domestication. We do not see what advantage is to be derived from such a process, but if it were desirable that objection it seems would not hold. Colonel Sykes, who notices it as the Kholah of the 3Iahrattas and as being numerous in Dukhun (Deccan), had in his possession at the same time a very large wild male and a domesticated female. The odour of the wild animal was almost unbearable ; that of the domesticated Jackal was scarcely perceptible.