JACKAL

(Ar. tschakkal; Fr. chacal.) A wild species of dog, the Canis aureus of Linnaeus; of gregarious habits; hunting in packs; rarely attacking the larger quadrupeds, but supposed to indicate their presence to the lion by the piercing cries which the jackals set up in chorus while scenting their tracks; feeding on the remnants of the lion's prey, on dead carca es, and the smaller animals and poultry. The jackal interbreeds with the common dog; its period of gestation is the same, and the hybrid progeny is ferule. The wild jackal emits a highly offensive odour, which is scarcely perceptible in the domesticated animal. Some are of opinion that the 300 animals, called foxes, between whose tails Samson is said to have put firebrands in order to destroy the crops of the Philistines, were jackals. The Canis aureus is abundant in the warmer parts of India and Africa, but is not found in the New World. JACKDAW, or [s. 634]