Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/612

* COYOTE. 528 COZZENS. phical races only. Coyotes live in hollows among rocks, or take possession of old burrows in the ground, and usually produce four puppies in late spring. They hunt.chielly in the dusk. They are very lleet of foot, and two or three by acting in concert will nui down a pronghorn ; they seek to detach and seize the fawns, however, rather than to pull down adults. Their food consists mainly of gophers, gi-ound-squirrels, mice, ground-nesting birds, and similar small animals; and they have become a great nuisance in the neighborliood of ranches and isolated settlements, especial]}' in winter, by attacking sheep, poultry, calves, etc. Adapting themselves thus readily to circumstances, and having e.xtreme cunning in avoiding traps and poison, they survive among the sparser settlements of the West, and in some regions increase rather than dimin- ish. They will cross with the domestic dog, pro- ducing fertile hybrids; and the Indians were accustomed to induce such mixture of blood. This animal entered more largely than almost any other into the mythology' and folk-lore of the aborigines, especially west of the Rockies. Con- sult: Ingersoll, Wild Keighhors (New York, 1897); Elliot, Synopsis of Mammals (Chicago, 1901). See Wolf; and illustrations on Colored Plate of Canid^, and on Plate of Wol^t;.? and Dogs. COYPEL, kwa'pel', Natalis or Noel (1028- 1707). A French historical painter, born in Paris. He was employed by Louis XIV. on the large decorative works in ^'crsailles. the Louvre, the Tuileries. and Fontainebleau, In 1605 he was made perpetual director of the Academy. When past seventy-five, he painted two frescoes in the dome of the Hotel dos Invalides in Paris. His pictures are very numerous, and, in a somewhat theatrical style, impressive. His two sons, An- TOINE and Noel Nicolas, and his grandson Chables Antoine, became well-known painters and engravers. COYPU, koi-poo' (native South American name), or Nl'trta. An aquatic rodent [Mijopo- tamiis coypn), widely common in South America. Its name in Chile is 'coypu,' and on the Pampas 'quuiya,' but it is always called by Spanish-speak- ing people of education nutria ('otter'), by which name its fur is known in commerce. It is not an otter, however, but is nearly allied to the beaver, yet somewhat smaller, and with a rat- like tail. It is dull brown, with a grayish muzzle and bright-red incisors: the nostrils are very liigh. allowing it to breathe with only the tip of the nose above water ; and the teats are high on the flanks. When the beaver became scarce the fur (nutria) of this animal was in great demand for making hats, etc., and the coypus were nearly exterminated, but with less demand and the protection of local laws they have again become numerous. It is thoroughly aquatic, dwelling preferably in the permanent ponds (lagunas) of the La Plata Valley, and inhabiting burrows in the banks, where there are banks, or making a platform nest among the rushes. "Of an evening they are all out swim- ming and playing in the water, conversing to- gether in their strange tones, which sound like the moans and cries of wounded and suflfering men ; and among them the mother coypu is seen with her progeny, numbering eight or nine, with as many on her back as she can accommodate, while the others swim after her, crving for a ride." Yor further interesting facts, consult: Hudson, The Naturalist on the La Plata (Lon- don, 1875) ; Proceedings Zoological Society (Lon- don, 1894); Semper, Animal Life (London and New York, 1881). See Plate of Beaver, etc. COYSEVOX, kwii'z'-voks', Antoine (1640- 1720). A French sculptor, born in Lyons. His master was the versatile Lerambert. The most notable works of this sculptor are fine busts of his contemporaries, such as Lebrun, Richelieu, and Bossuet ; one of the mother of the painter, and one of himself. He also modeled the statue of Louis XIV. at the Hotel de Ville in Paris, and various decorations for the interior of Versailles. COYUVO, ko-yoo'vo. The natives of Calami- anes Province, P. I. They speak Tagbanua. See Philippines. COZENERS, kuz"n-erz. The. A comedy by Samuel Foote (1774), in which he himself played the part of Aircastle. COZENS, kuz'nz, .John Robert (1752-99). An English painter. His father was one of the two natural sons of Peter the Great of Russia by a woman of Deptford. He traveled in Italy and Switzerland and left valuable drawings made on that tour. Toward the end of his life he became insane. In his day water-color land- scapes were very conventional in drawing and dry in color. Cozens was one of the first to show the value of this medium in the poetical quality of his work. Turner and Constable have spoken in terms of admiration of Cozens's pic- tures. There are a number of them in the British Museum, but the most famous is a landscape, "Hannibal Crossing the Alps" (1776). COZITMEL, ko'soo-mal'. An island off the eastern coast of the Sfexican Province of Yuca- tan, in latitude 20° N. and extending east of longitude 87° W. (Map: Mexico, P 7). It is about 24 miles long and about 7 miles wide. Its surface is low and the coasts are bordered by reefs. There is a small Indian settlement by the name of San Miguel. The chief industry is cattle-raising. The island was discovered in 1518. COZZENS, kuz'nz, Frederick Swartwout (1818-00). An American humorist, born in New York City. He became in early life a w'ine- merchant, and later editor of the Wine Press, for which he wrote papers on the culture of the grape and the manufacture of wine, as well as miscellaneous essays. He had previously con- tributed humorous poems and articles to maga- zines, and in 1853 he issued his first volume, Prismaties, under the pen-name Richard Hay- warde. Then came the Sparrowgrass Papers, his best performance, first published in the Knickerbocker .l/ojrwciiie, and, in 1856, as a widely read volume. They dealt with the trials of a city man who undertakes to run a country home (near Yonkers). and although their humor is mild, they are still fairly readable. Three years later (1859) he published a volume of travel- sketches, Acadia: or. A So/ourn Among the Blue Tioses. Soon after the war he failed in a business for which he had labored earnestly, especially by promoting the sale of native wines, and retired from Yonkers to Rahwav. N. .T. Of his other works only Poems (1867) and a Memorial of Fitz-Crreene Ualleck (1868) need be named.