684 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



was secured by Montague Chamberlain, of St. John, N. B. 

 He says:" 



"It was dropped on the 20th of March, 1883, when the 

 mother had been in captivity about a month. She gave birth 

 to 5 kittens, but this was the only one rescued from her un- 

 motherly jaws. When the first was born she at once prepared 

 to clean it, and seemed fond of it. After a short time, however, 

 it gave vent to a weak squeal, which caused her to eye it 

 curiously for a moment, when another squeal was delivered. 

 This settled the kitten's doom — it was devoured at once. 

 The mother did not exhibit any tenderness towards the other 

 4, and the keeper made two unsuccessful efforts before he was 

 able to get one away from her. This kitten lived two days, 

 and then died from injuries received in its removal from the 

 cage. Its 'mew' was something like that of a domestic kitten, 

 but stronger and harsher; it was almost fierce and very pene- 

 trating. The general strength of the animal was greater than 

 that of a domestic kitten. Two hours after birth it stood 

 firmly on its feet and turned around in its box, but it did not 

 show any inclination to fight when teased. The eyes were 

 open at birth." 



Miles Spencer states'" that they are born with closed eyes. 



Dr. Merriam adds in his description of the specimen 

 figured: 



"It is but a trifle larger than the young of the domestic 

 cat at birth, and may have been born a little prematurely, 

 though the fact that its eyes were open argues against this 

 supposition. I am unable to give many measurements of 

 value, since I did not see the specimen till after it came from 

 the taxidermist. 



^ Jji ^ ^ if' 'I* 'I' 



"The ground colour of the body is light fawn, paler below, 

 and inclining to buff on the sides. It is much obscured above 

 by the stripes and rows of concatenating brown blotches, and 

 below by small dark stripes. * * * 



» Bull. Nat. Hist. Soc. New Brunswick, 1886, No. V, pp. 10-13. 

 '" Loc. cil., note 6. 



