THE TIBETAN TIGER-CAT. 119 



Burma to the Malay Peninsula ; N. Borneo*; Baram River, 

 Sarawak ; Sumatra ; and perhaps Java. 



Habits — Nothing definite is known as to the habits of this 

 prettily-marked Cat, although, like the last species, it is prob- 

 ably arboreal. Mr. Hose says that it frequents the clearings in 

 Sarawak, and is more often found in the low country than on 

 the mountains. It is very fierce, when caught, and will not 

 live long in captivity. 



IX. THE TIBETAN TIGER-CAT. FELIS SCRIPTA. 



Felis scripta, Milne-Edwards, Nouv. Archiv. Mus. Bull. vol. 

 vii. p. 92 (1876); id., Recherches des Mammif. p. 341 ; 

 Mivart, The Cat, p. 400 (1881). 



Characters. — As suggested by Mr. W. L. Sclater in his 

 Catalogue of Mammals in the Indian Museum, Calcutta (part 

 ii. p. 221), it is not improbable that this form will prove to be 

 identical with the last. Its general colour is described as pale 

 g.ey, with reddish-brown spots margined more or less completely 

 with black. In the region of the shoulders these markings take 

 the form of longitudinal wavy bands, with a distant resemblance 

 to Chinese letters. The largest of these dark lines commences 

 near the inner corner of the eye, then passes above the ear to 

 the withers, after which it widens out as it descends obliquely ; 

 and a similar, but more highly-placed band extends from the 

 forehead to the shoulder. On the sides of the body are large, 

 irregularly-shaped blotches, forming bands and bars at the 

 hinder parts, and incomplete rings on the tail ; and there are 

 likewise black spots and bars on the outer sides of the limbs. 

 A portion of the cheeks, as well as the chest, are white, with 

 transversa black markings ; and_the yellowish under-parts like- 



* A. H. Everett, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1893, p. 495. 



