THE RED LYNX. 1 99 



Habits. — From the account given in Dr. Hart Merriam's 

 " Mammals of the Adirondack Region," it would appear that in 

 habits this Lynx differs to a certain extent from the preceding, 

 a circumstance which, so far as it goes, is in favour of its right 

 to specific distinction. Frequenting rocky hills and ledges, the 

 Red Lynx does not exhibit that antipathy to the neighbourhood 

 'of human habitations which is such a characteristic trait of the 

 Canadian Lynx ; and it is accordingly quite common in thickly 

 populated districts, where it carries off lambs, young pigs, and 

 poultry from the farmyard. In the wilds its food consists, how- 

 ever, of Rabbits, Squirrels, Mice, Grouse, and such small birds 

 as it can contrive to capture. The young, generally three in 

 number, although there may be as few as two and as many as 

 four in a litter, are generally produced in some hollow tree or 

 log, where a moss-lined cradle is prepared by the mother fcr 

 their reception. When enraged, the Red Lynx hisses, spits 

 and snarls in the most menacing manner. 



An anecdote quoted under the head of the Jungle Cat is 

 paralleled by the following experience of Dr. Merriam. " In 

 1873 or 1874," writes this naturalist, " I shot a Grouse as it was 

 flying along the north side of Mount Tom, in Massachusetts. 

 Scarcely had it touched the rocky slope when a Wild Cat 

 sprang upon it from behind a neighbouring bush, and, in a 

 succession of rapid leaps, started up the side of the mountain 

 with the Grouse in its mouth. The contents of the other 

 barrel of my gun caused him to change his mind as well as 

 direction." 



Mr. Herrick relates that in Minnesota " during severe 

 weather the Wild Cat is often forced to feed upon the Porcu- 

 pine, and it is of no unfrequent occurrence that she pays for 

 her temerity with her life. I have several times secured them 

 with the head and throat filled with the spines, rendering 

 the animals helpless. Such specimens were invariably poor 



