unning to and fro upon the prairie, and
doubling about as if playing, or rather as if some creature was chasing
them. With the naked eye, however, nothing could be seen upon the ground
but the bucks themselves, and all the others looked to Basil, who held
the glass, for an explanation of their odd manoeuvres.

"There are wolves at them," said Basil, after regarding them for a
second or two.

"That's odd," rejoined Norman. "Wolves don't often attack full-grown
wapiti, except when wounded or crippled somehow. They must be precious
hungry. What sort of wolves are they?"

To you, boy reader, this question may seem strange. You, perhaps, think
that a wolf is a wolf, and there is but one kind. Such, however, is not
the exact truth. In America there are two distinct species or wolves,
and of these two species there are many varieties, which differ so much
in colour and other respects, that some authors have classed them as so
many distinct species instead of considering them mere varieties.
Whether they may be species or not is still a question among
naturalists; but certain it is that _two_ well-defined species do exist,
which differ in size, form, colour, and habits.

These are the _large_ or _common wolf_, and the barking or prairie wolf.
The first species is the American representative of the common wolf of
Europe; and although an animal of similar nature and habits, it differs
very much from the latter in form and appearance. It is, therefore, not
the _same_, as hitherto supposed. This American wolf is found in greater
or less numbers throughout the whole continent; but in the Northern
regions it is very common, and is seen in at least five different
varieties, known by the characteristic names of _black_, _pied_,
_white_, _dusky_, and _grey_ wolves. Of these the grey is the most
numerous kind; but as I shall have occasion to speak of the large wolves
hearafter, I shall say no more of them at present, but direct your
attention to the second and very different species, the _prairie
wolves_.

These are a full third smaller than the common kind. They are swifter,
and go in larger packs. They bring forth their young in burrows on the
open plain, and not among the woods, like the other species. They are
the most cunning of American animals, not excepting their kindred the
foxes. They cannot be trapped by any contrivance, but by singular
manoeuvres often themselves decoy the over-curious antelope to approach
too near them