THE SERVAL. 135 



seen several undoubted hybrids between this and the Domestic 

 Cat, and I have also observed the same." Later observations 

 indicate that this Cat does not invariably shun jungles, since it 

 has been taken in the forests of Ceylon. The exceeding grace- 

 fulness of the movements of the kittens in captivity has been 

 noticed by all who have seen them, and their activity far sur. 

 passes that of domestic kittens of the same age. 



XVIII. THE SERVAL. FELTS SERVAL. 



Felis serval, Erxleben, Syst. Regn. Animal, p. 523 (1777); 



Elliot, Monogr. Felidae, pi. xxvi. (1878-83). 

 Felis capensis, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 81 (1788). 

 Felis galeopardus, Desmarest, Mammalogie, p. 227 (1820). 

 Felis senegalensis, Lesson, Mag. Zool. 1839, pi. x. ; Mivart, The 



Cat, p. 407 (1881). 

 ? Felis serualina, Ogilby, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1839, p. 94 ; Bocage, 



J. Sci. Lisb. ser. 2, vol. iii. p. 176 (1889). 

 Leopardus serual, Gray, List Mamm. Brit. Mus. p. 41 (1843) 



(Plate XIV.) 

 Characters. — Size medium : legs long ; tail short. General 

 colour reddish-orange or tawny, approaching brown along the 

 middle of the back, and paling to whitish on the under-parts. 

 Body marked with black or dark brown spots, some of which 

 are circular, and others irregularly shaped ; towards the middle 

 of the back the markings tending to unite into two longitudinal 

 stripes ; no dark streaks on the cheeks ; two strongly-marked 

 transverse bars on the inner sides of the fore-legs ; tail ringed 

 with black. Pupil contracting into an oblong vertical slit. In 

 the skull the anterior pre-molar tooth present, and the second 

 of unusually large size. Length of head and body reaching to 

 40 inches ; of tail, to 16 inches. 



With regard to the Servaline Cat (F. serualina) of West 

 Africa, there is some difference of opinion among zoologists as 



