Canada Lynx 689 



reason I cannot tell. However, he was found drowned, en- 

 tangled in the net about lo feet from shore." 



Richardson, in his Overland Journey, 1848, relates'' that 

 on June 26, at Buffalo Lake, "a Canada Lynx was seen 

 swimming across a strait, where the distance from shore to 

 shore exceeded a mile. We gave chase and killed it easily. 

 This animal is often seen in the water," and elsewhere'^ he 

 remarks, "it swims well and will cross the arm of a lake two 

 miles wide." I have several times known Lynxes to take to 

 the water without being in any sense driven, and was sur- 

 prised to find this member of the cat tribe as good a swimmer as 

 a dog and far better than a Fox. 



It is noteworthy that most of our carnivora live chiefly food 

 on prey smaller than themselves. The Fox preys on Mice, 

 the Marten on Squirrels, the Badger on Gophers, the Lynx 

 finds its chief support in the White-rabbit. A good Rabbit 

 year is sure to be a good Lynx year, and the disappearance of 

 the Rabbits is followed by a general disappearance of the 

 Lynxes. 



In addition to Rabbits, the Lynx preys on various kinds 

 of grouse — is, in fact, the chief enemy of the Canadian grouse 

 or spruce partridge. 



It is a curious fact, as I have often witnessed, that the 

 spruce partridge will allow a man to walk within ten feet and 

 noose a member out of a covey, but the moment a dog or 

 anything suggesting a Lynx appears in the distance the whole 

 family take flight in alarm. This may be accepted as evidence 

 that the Lynx, and perhaps the Fox, have for long been the 

 only important enemies of this grouse. 



The food of this animal is thus detailed by Audubon 

 and Bachman:'^ 



"The food of the Canada Lynx consists of several species 

 of grouse and other birds, the Northern Hare, Gray-rabbit, 



" Arctic Search Exp., 185 1, Vol. I, p. 106. 

 " F. B. A., 1829, Vol. I, p. loi. 

 " Q. N. A,, 1849, Vol. I, p. 141. 



