NATURAL HISTORY. 



37 



LEOPARDUS. 



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Onca (Gr. O//;a, a proper name), the Jaguar. 



The JAGUAR inhabits America. It is larger and more 

 powerful than the leopard, which it resembles in colour, but 

 has a black streak across the chest, and a black spot in the 

 centre of the rosettes. It is fond of climbing trees, and finds 

 little difficulty in ascending, even when the trunk is smooth 

 and destitute of branches. It chases monkeys successfully, 

 and is said to watch for turtles on the beach, and to scoop 

 out their flesh by turning them on their backs and inserting 

 its paws between the shells. It often makes fearful havoc 

 among the sheep-folds, and is said to depart so far from the 

 usual habits of the Felidee, as to enter the water after fish, 

 and to capture them in shallow water. There have been 

 instances of the domestic cat acting in the same manner. 



