THE GREYHOUND (Canis familiaris graius) Is well known, and was formerly held in such estimation, that he was the especial companion of a gentleman, who, in ancient times, was distinguished by his horse, his hawk, and his Greyhound, and it was penal for any person of inferior rank to keep one. He is the fleetest of all Dogs, and can outrun every animal of the chase. He has a long body, and is of an elegant shape; his head is neat and sharp, with a full eye, a good mouth, sharp and very white teeth; his tail is long, and curls round above his hind part. There are several varieties; as the Italian Greyhound, the Oriental Greyhound, and the Irish Greyhound, or Wolf-dog. They are used for coursing; that is, hunting by sight instead of scent; and are principally employed in chasing hares. Daniel, in his Rural Sports, tells us, that a brace of Greyhounds have been known to course a hare four miles in twelve minutes; turning it several times, till the poor creature dropped at last quite dead from fatigue. THIS well-known animal, which is found in most countries, varies much in size and colour. In the North of Europe some are white, some red, and others black; but the general colour is a yellow-brown. His abode is generally on the skirt of a wood, as near a farm-yard as possible, in a hole, of which some other animal has either been dispossessed or voluntarily deserted. Thence he issues at night, and cautiously approaching the poultry, kills all that he can find, conveying them one by one to different hiding places, which he visits when hungry. He will continue his depredations till day-break, or until he is alarmed, often depopulating a whole poultry-yard in one night. When, however, his choice food, the chicken, is not accessible, he devours animal food of every description; and if his habitation be near the water he will even content himself with shell-fish. In France and Italy he does much damage to the vineyards, being very fond of grapes, and spoiling many for the sake of one bunch. His name has passed into a proverb for cunning and deceitfulness; and, unlike the dog tribe to which he belongs, he is totally unsusceptible of any sentiment of gratitude. His bite is tenacious and dangerous, as the severest blows cannot make him quit his hold; his eye is most significant, and expressive of almost every passion. He generally lives about twelve or fifteen years The female produces but once a year, and seldom has more than four or five cubs at a litter. The first year the young is called a Cub, the second year a Fox, and the third year an Old Fox. The tail is very bushy, and is called the brush. In this country he is hunted with horses and hounds, and no animal affords greater diversion and occupation to the sportsman. When pursued he usually makes for his hole; but should his retreat be cut off, his stratagems and shifts to escape are singularly acute. He seeks woody and uneven parts of the country, preferring the paths the most embarrassed by thorns and briars, and running in a straight line before the hounds, at no great distance from them; and, when overtaken, he turns on his assailants, and fighting with obstinate despair, dies in silence. THE WOLF, (Canis Lupus,) When hungry, is an undaunted and most ferocious inhabitant of the woods, but a coward when the stimulus of appetite is no longer in action. He delights to roam in mountainous countries, and is a great enemy to sheep and goats; the watchfulness of dogs can hardly prevent his depredations, and he often dares to visit the haunts of men, howling at the gates of cities and towns. His head and neck are of a cinereous colour, and the rest of a pale yellowish brown. He commonly lives to the age of fif teen or twenty years. He possesses a most exquisite power of smelling his prey at a great distance. Wolves are found nearly everywhere, except in the British islands, where this noxious race has been entirely extirpated. King Edgar first attempted to effect this by remitting the punishment of certain crimes on producing a number of Wolves' tongues; and in Wales, the tax of gold and silver was commuted for an annual tribute of Wolves' heads. In the reign of Athelstan, Wolves abounded so much in Yorkshire, that a retreat was built at Flixton, to defend passengers from their attacks. They infested Ireland many centuries after their extinction in England: the last presentment for killing Wolves was made in the county of Cork about the year 1710. They abound in the immense forests of Germany, and they are also found in considerable numbers in the South of France. Everywhere that they are wild, so great is the general detestation of this destructive creature, that all other animals endeavour to avoid it. In a state of captivity, however, the Wolf is said to be remarkably anxious to attract the attention of man, and to rub itself against the bars of its cage when noticed. The Wolf is sometimes affected with madness, in symptoms and consequences exactly similar to that which affects the dog; but this disease, as it generally happens in the depth of winter, cannot be attributed to the great heat of the dog-days. In the northern parts of the world, wolves are said, frequently, in the spring, to get upon the fields of ice adjoining the sea, for the purpose of preying upon the young seals, which they there find asleep; but vast pieces of the ice occasionally detaching themselves from the mass, they are carried with them to a great distance from the land, where they perish amidst the most hideous and dreadful howling. The language of the poet is beautifully descriptive of this creature's insatiable fury : "By wintry famine roused, from all the tract |