134 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 
the Leopard-Cat that only very brief mention is necessary 
here. In size it is consideral¥ less than an ordinary Domestic 
Cat; the fur is grizzled grey, marked with reddish-brown elon 
gate spots ; tail without spots ; skull of the short and rounded 
type characterising the Leopard-Cat, but with the nasal bones 
more distinctly narrowed, the orbit of the eye completely en- 
circled by bone, and the anterior upper pre-molar wanting. 
Length of head and body, from 16 to 18 inches ; of tail, 9% 
inches, 
Distribution—India and Ceylon, in the former country thé 
species being recorded from the coasts of Madras, the hills of 
Southern India, Seoni, and perhaps Central India. The pecu- 
liarly restricted distribution of this Cat, which may be con- 
sidered essentially a Singhalese and Southern Indian form, when 
contrasted with the wide range of its cousin the Leopard-Cat, is 
very noteworthy. It is, in fact, suggestive that while the pre- 
sent species was an inhabitant of Ceylon and Southern India, 
when the latter was cut off by sea from the more northern part 
of the country, the Leopard-Cat is a comparatively recent im- 
migrant into India from the countries lying to the eastward 
of the Bay of Bengal, a view which would well account for the 
absence of the species from Ceylon. 
Habits—The smallest member of the Family inhabiting 
the Old World, the Rusty-spotted Cat, according to Jerdon, 
“frequents grass in the dry beds of tanks, and occasionally 
drains in the open country, and is said not to be a denizen of 
the jungles. I had a kitten brought to me, when very young, 
in 1846, and it became quite tame, and was the delight and 
admiration of all who saw it. When it was about eight months 
old, I introduced it into a room where there was a small fawn 
of the Gazelle, and the little creature flew at it the moment it 
saw it, seized it by the nape, and was with difficulty taken off. 
I lost it shortly after this. Sir Walter Elliot notices that he has 
