96 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 
frequently occurs; one @@mple described by Azara being so 
pale-coloured that the rosettes were only visible in certain 
lights. 
Pupil of the eye round. Skull distinguished from that of 
either of the preceding species by the presence of a distinct 
tubercle of variable size in the middle of the inner side of the 
rim of the orbit. Length usually about 6 feet 2 inches, of 
which about 2 feet 1 inch are taken up by the tail. 
Our illustration is taken from the skin of a very fine speci- 
men, in which the markings were of a deep chocolate-brown, 
upon a yellowish ground, and were remarkable for their clear- 
ness. Along the middle line of the back there was almost a 
line of open spots, only occasionally interrupted, and the next 
two lines were of an oval or diamond shape, producing a very 
beautiful appearance. Upon the sides the rings became more 
defined and distinct, and many of them possessed the small 
spot or spots in the centre, forming one of the characters of 
the species. 
The skin forming the type of Leopardus hernandesit came 
from Mexico, and indicates a variety or local race of the 
species distinguished by the distance at which the small spots 
are placed from one another, so that it is only here and there 
that they form anything like a distinct ring or row. 
Distribution—America; from Louisiana, Texas, and Northern 
Mexico to about the Rio Negro, on the northern confines of 
Patagonia, in latitude 4o° S. 
Habits.— Although in the greater part of its range the Jaguar 
is an inhabitant of vast primeval forests, where it climbs among 
the branches with the facility and agility of a Monkey, yet it 
was formerly found in considerable numbers on the open 
grassy pampas of Argentina, where, however, it has now been 
well nigh exterminated. Throughout South America, the 
