134 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 



the Leopard-Cat that only very brief mention is necessary 

 here. In size it is considerably less than an ordinary Domestic 

 Cat ; the fur is grizzled grey, marked with reddish-brown elon 

 gate spots ; tail without spots ; skull of the short and rounded 

 type characterising the Leopard-Cat, but with the nasal bones 

 more distinctly narrowed, the orbit of the eye completely en- 

 circled by bone, and the anterior upper pre-molar wanting. 

 Length of head and body, from 16 to 18 inches ; of tail, 9^ 

 inches. 



Distribution. — India and Ceylon, in the former country th& 

 species being recorded from the coasts of Madras, the hills of 

 Southern India, Seoni, and perhaps Central India. The pecu- 

 liarly restricted distribution of this Cat, which may be con- 

 sidered essentially a Singhalese and Southern Indian form, when 

 contrasted with the wide range of its cousin the Leopard-Cat, is 

 very noteworthy. It is, in fact, suggestive that while the pre- 

 sent species was an inhabitant of Ceylon and Southern India, 

 when the latter was cut off by sea from the more northern part 

 of the country, the Leopard-Cat is a comparatively recent im- 

 migrant into India from the countries lying to the eastward 

 of the Bay of Bengal, a view which would well account for the 

 absence of the species from Ceylon. 



Habits. — The smallest member of the Family inhabiting 

 the Old World, the Rusty-spotted Cat, according to Jerdon, 

 "frequents grass in the dry beds of tanks, and occasionally 

 drains in the open country, and is said not to be a denizen of 

 the jungles. I had a kitten brought to me, when very young, 

 in 1846, and it became quite tame, and was the delight and 

 admiration of all who saw it. When it was about eight months 

 old, I introduced it into a room where there was a small fawn 

 of the Gazelle, and the little creature flew at it the moment it 

 saw it, seized it by the nape, and was with difficulty taken off. 

 I lost it shortly after this. Sir Walter Elliot notices that he has 



