508 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 



Order CARNIVORA. 

 Family FELID^. 



Cats. 



LYNX, Raf. 

 rufus, Gald. Wild-cat. 



Inner sides of legs with dark cross bands ; tail with a black 

 patch at end above, preceded by half rings. 



" Very rare, and probably will be wholly extinct in a year or 

 two. In the southern counties, among the still undisturbed 

 swamps, there are yet, no doubt, perhaps two or three pairs still 

 living. In Mercer, Middlesex, Essex, Hunterdon, &c., they 

 have been for some years extinct, and it is merely a matter of 

 speculation as to whether or not they are found about the Blue 

 Mountains and that portion of the State [1868]. 



" In 1852 a specimen came down the Delaware during a high 

 freshet — was taken near Trenton, and although apparently dead 

 when found, it revived. This may have come from the northern 

 part of the State, but it is by no means certain. The females 

 have a single litter about May, the kittens shifting for them- 

 selves in August. Wild-cats frequent heavy timber land and 

 prey upon birds principally, and also upon rabbits and squirrels. 

 Domestic cats not unfrequently ' run wild,' and have, when 

 tawny- colored, been mistaken for the Lynx rufus. The smaller 

 size and longer tail of the former ought to readily undeceive any 

 one." 



Family CANID.^. 



Dogs. 



VULPES, Bris. 



V. vulpes, L. [fulvus.) Red Fox. Cross Fox. Silver Fox. Black Fox. 

 Chiefly red, with black feet and ears ; tip of tail white ; quite 

 variable in color. 



