604 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



weeks.* The young first open their eyes when nine or ten days old. 

 Their total length when born is from 10 to 12 inches.! Dr. Merriain 

 is of the opinion that in the Adirondacks the Puma does not breed 

 oftener than once in two years.f 



The age which the Puma attains iu the state of nature is unknown. 

 It may be remarked, however, that one lived iu the Zoological Garden 

 at Frankfort, Germany, sixteen years, one month, and nine days. It 

 died from injuries received by accident, October 13, 1878.|| Dr. W. A. 

 Conklin states that the various species of cats live iu captivity fifteen 

 or sixteen years, but show signs of decay at twelve years.§ 



Authoritative writers upon the habits of the Puma in North America 

 agree that the adults do not commonly or frequently make use of trees 

 except when traversing precipitous cliffs or when pursued by dogs. 

 Under the latter circumstances they do not climb into a tree, but jump 

 upon the nearest branch, even though it be at a cousiderable distance 

 from the ground.^ Rengger, in his Travels in Paraguay, however, states 

 that both the Puma and the Ocelot climb well, and that in the forest 

 they make their flight not only on the ground, but also by springing from 

 tree to tree.** He tells us in another place that he once saw a Puma 

 chase a troop of monkeys through the forest by jumping from bough to 

 bough among the trees.+f However incredible this may at first appear, 

 it becomes less so when we consider the wonderful denseness of the 

 South American forests, described by Humboldt and other writers. ft 



The Puma, like the cat, has the habit of scratching the bark of trees 

 with its claws, for the purpose of sharpening or smoothing them. 

 Having mentioned this habit as possessed by the Jaguar, Darwin 

 writes: "Some such habit must also be common to the puma, for on 



* Dr. W. A. Conklin (iu Merriatu's Mammals of the Adirondacks, 1. c, p. 35) gives 

 ninety-one days for a female kept in captivity in the Central Park menagerie, New 

 York. Head Keeper Devereux Fuller reported ninety-six or ninety-seven days in the 

 case of the Puma in the Zoological Gardens, London, in 1882. (Proc. Committee of 

 Science, Zool. Soc. of London, Pt. II, 1832, p. 62.) 



tPumas living in captivity in the London Zoological Gardens bred in five instances 

 between the years 1848 and 1867. See Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1868, p. 624. 



t Merriam, 1. c, p. 35. 



|| Zool. Garten., xx, 1879, p. 70. 



§ Chicago Field, xiv, p. 67. 



If Mr. Livingston Stone states that old hunters in California affirm that the Puma is 

 able to jump upon boughs that are more than 20 feet above the ground. (Amer. 

 Naturalist, xvn, 1883, p. 1188.) 



** Rengger, Reise nach Paraguay, 1835, p. 203. 



ft Rengger, Saugethiere von Paraguay. Fide Brehm. 



t! It may be observed that a writer in the Forest and Stream newspaper affirms that 

 he saw a Puma climb a tree that had no limbs below thirty feet from the ground, and 

 knew of another that climbed a straight tree with no limbs below thirty-five feet. 

 He states, however, that both individuals were of small size. (Forest and Stream, 

 xxx, 1888, p. 308. See also, pp. 289 and 512. ) Dr. Merriam informs us that the kittens 

 sometimes climb trees in play. (Merriam, 1. c, p. 33.) 



