396 



THE CAT. 



[chap. xii. 



It is clotlied in a dense long fur, whicli even forms a short mane. 

 It is from four to four and a half feet long without the tail, which 

 measures a yard. The fur is of a pale yellowish grey, with small 

 irregular dark spots on the head, cheeks, back of neck and limbs, 

 and with dark rings on the back and sides. It is whitish beneath, 

 with some large dark spots about the middle of the abdomen ; the 

 rest of the belly is unspotted. The long bushy tail is surrounded by 



Fig. 107.— Skull of Ounce (FcHs vneiu). 



incomplete black bands. The length of the head and body is four 

 feet four inches, that of the tail three feet. 



The skull is very high, but concave in front of the orbit Avhcn 

 viewed in profile. The nasals arc remarkably short and broad. 



The pupil is round. 



The Ounce is found in the highlands of Central Asia and the 

 Himalayas, where it ranges from 9000 to 18,000 feet, rarely descend- 

 ing very much below the snows. It has, however, been found as 

 far west as Smyrna.* It is said to frequent rocky ground, and to 

 feed on wild and domestic sheep, goats and dogs, but has never been 

 known to attack man. 



An animal has been described f as a new species of ounce, under 

 the name F. tuUiana. It seems to be more slender than F. tincia, 

 M-ith longer legs, and with a longer and narrower head. Its hair 

 is also less long, thick and soft, while the annular spots arc more 

 numerous and smaller, and the round spots on the upper part of the 

 back are smaller than those of the flanks. The tail is less thick 

 and still less completely annulatcd. 



* Jerdoii's Mammals of India, p. 101. 



+ See Valcucicns, Complcs Keudus, 



1856, t. ilii., p. 1035, and Tcliichat- 



cbcfT's Abie Mill., 1856, vol. ii., p. 613, 

 plate 1. 



