33 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



LEOPAUDl'S. 





Concolor (Lat. of the same colour], the Puma. 



The PUMA inhabits the whole of America, where it is held 

 in much dread by the natives. Its colour is an uniform 

 grey, fading into white on the under parts of its body ; this 

 similarity of colour is the reason that the name " concolor" 

 has been given to it. It lives much on trees, and usually lies 

 along the branches, where its uniform dusky fur renders it so 

 like the bark that it can scarcely be distinguished from the 

 branch. This habit it preserves when in captivity, and 

 many persons pass its den in the Zoological Gardens, fancy- 

 ing it empty, while the Puma is lying along its shelf un- 

 observed. 



The Americans always speak of this animal as the panther, 

 or " painter," as it is more familiarly pronounced ; and many 

 authors still term it the " cougar" a word contracted from 

 the original elongated unpronounceable Mexican name. 



