The Red Wolf (_Canis jubatus_) of Brazil shows considerable resemblance both to the Jackals and to the Foxes. It has long, slender legs, a slender snout, long ears, and stiff, shaggy, reddish hair, raised into a mane along the neck. THE JACKAL.[129] Next to the Wolf, the Jackal is the most important wild member of the Dog tribe. It is a much smaller animal than the Wolf, not exceeding thirty inches in length, and seventeen in height at the shoulder. It is also distinguished from Wolves and true Dogs by its curious, long pointed muzzle. Its fur is of a dusky-yellowish colour--whence its name of “Loup doré,” or gilded Wolf, and its specific appellation _aureus_--“the hairs being mottled black, grey, and brown, with the under fur brownish-yellow, the lower parts yellowish-grey, tail reddish-brown, ending in a darkish tuft.” There is a good deal of variation from this colour, depending partly on the time of year, partly on the locality. The Jackal is a cowardly animal, blessed with a most evil smell and with a voracious appetite. It lives largely upon carrion, a good deal of which it gets as a sort of “perquisite” from the remains of the Lion’s feast. It is sometimes called “the Lion’s provider,” a name which “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 Jackals being seen to feed on the remnants of the Lion’s quarry.” Dr. Jerdon says, “it is a very useful scavenger, clearing away all garbage and carrion from the neighbourhood of Cape Town, but occasionally committing depredations among poultry and other domestic animals. Sickly Sheep and Goats usually fall a prey to him; and a wounded Antelope is pretty certain to be tracked and hunted to death by Jackals. They will, however, partake freely of vegetable food.” Like most other Dogs, the Jackal hunts in packs; and then, while on an expedition for food, makes night hideous by its fearful cries. In this it calls to mind the Hyæna, as well as in some other particulars, as, for instance, in its love for carrion, and in the remarkably cool way in which it will stare and laugh at travellers, as if holding them up to general ridicule. The habits of the Jackal are altogether canine. Their hunts are conducted under the guidance of a leader, who is said to give the signal for every attack by a peculiar cry, and so powerful are these little animals in their union, that they are quite capable of pulling down a Deer. Their chief food in Ceylon seems to be Hares, the numbers of which they keep down to such an extent that those palatable Rodents are quite scarce in regions infested by Jackals.