THE SERVAL CAT 1 9 



consider them as little better than vermin, and 

 take no trouble to learn anything about them. 



Apparently the first serval brought to Europe 

 alive was the young male described many years 

 ago by Cuvier. This individual was as playful as 

 an ordinary kitten, chasing its tail and rolling 

 objects about with its paw ; it seems to have ex- 

 hibited none of the fierceness popularly associated 

 with the name of tiger-cat. Since Cuvier's day 

 many servals have been brought to Europe for 

 menageries and zoological gardens ; indeed, it 

 appears to be the most abundant of the lesser 

 cats except, perhaps, the American ocelot (Felts 

 pardina). Judging from the lists regularly 

 issued by the various wild beast merchants to 

 advertise their stock, barely three months pass 

 without one or more individuals being offered for 

 sale. Eleven examples were exhibited at the 

 London Zoo between 1853 ^'^^ 1^79 inclusive, 

 and I never recollect to have visited those famous 

 Gardens without having seen at least one specimen 

 there. In June, 1893, Felis serval was repre- 

 sented in the Regent's Park Collection by a 

 half-grown kitten, as playful as the one described 

 by Cuvier. It continually tossed its meat up in 

 its paws and played with its apology for a tail. 

 This individual had the spots along the back 

 almost confluent, but the "necklace" was indistinct. 



The temper of the present species is as variable 



