1 94 Lloyd's natural history. 



well exterminated. In Baden the last Lynx was killed in 

 1834; but an example was shot in Wiirttemberg so late as 

 1846. Another Lynx was killed in the Department of Haute- 

 Loire, France, in the year 1822. The species never inhabited 

 Britain during the historic period. In Tibet the Lynx lives at 

 great heights, its cubs having been taken in Spiti at an eleva- 

 tion of between 14,000 and 15,000 feet; but at Gilgit it de- 

 scends as low as 5,000 feet above the sea. 



Internal Structure. — It is worthy of mention that the Lynx 

 differs from all the species of Cats described above, in the 

 relative shortness of its intestine, which is only twice the 

 length of the body. As in the common Cat, the arched bone, 

 supporting the base of the tongue, is connected with the under 

 surface of the hinder part of the skull by a continuous chain 

 of small bones. 



Habits. — Although generally inhabiting forest-clad districts, 

 where it captures much of its prey by climbing the trees, the 

 Lynx, as we have seen, in Tibet, dwells in the open, among 

 rocks. That it is by no means a common animal is not to be 

 regretted, seeing that in the wild state it is one of the most 

 bloodthirsty and rapacious of the Felidee^ frequently killing 

 more than it can devour, and thus being detested by the 

 owners of Sheep and Goats. In Tibet it preys chiefly upon the 

 Hares that are so abundant in the patches of bush along the 

 watercourses; but it also kills Pigeons, in addition to Sheep and 

 Goats, In Europe it subsists upon the smaller mammals and 

 birds ; but the reports of its onslaughts on Red Deer are not to 

 be credited. An excellent climber, the Lynx frequently lies 

 stretched out at length on the bough of a tree, from whence 

 it springs suddenly on its unsuspecting prey ; and the writer 

 has witnessed the extraordinary rapidity with which a tame 

 individual would spring on Pigeons on the roof of a house in 

 Leh. The female produces two or three young in a litter, 



