170 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 
portance, the comparatively small number of skins sold realis- 
ing small prices. oe 
AAAL LAE. WILD. CAT... FEEIS CATUS;: 
Felis catus, Linn., Syst. Nat. ed. 12, vol. i. p. 62 (1766) ; Elliot, 
Monograph of Felidze, pl. xxx. (1878-83). 
felis sylvestris, Schreber, Saugethiere, vol. iii. p. 397 (1778). 
(Plate XX.) 
Characters.*—General colour yellowish-grey, with an inter- 
rupted longitudinal dark stripe down the back, two dusky 
bands on the cheeks, and numerous obscure transverse stripes 
of the same colour on the body and limbs ; tail of equal thick- 
ness throughout, less than half the head and body in length, 
and ringed and tipped with black. Length of head and body 
of male, about 34 inches ; of tail, 114 inches. 
In general aspect, form, and coloration, the Wild Cat re- 
sembles large ‘’Tabbies” of the domestic breed ; from which 
it differs in the proportionately longer body and limbs, and 
the shorter and thicker tail; the fur being also more abundant 
than in the original English breed. Conforming in its general 
external configuration and appearance to the type characteristic 
of the great majority of the members of the family to which it 
belongs, the Wild Cat has the general ground-colour of its 
soft and long fur yellowish-grey, tending in some individuals to 
pale reddish-brown. In addition to some black spots near the 
muzzle, the face is marked with two black stripes, commencing 
between the eyes, and gradually increasing in width, and 
diverging as they pass backwards between the ears to the 
hinder part of the neck. Commencing between the shoulder- 
blades, a broad irregular black or blackish longitudinal stripe 
traverses the whole length of the back, from which diverge 
numerous paler transverse bands, gradually becoming lighter in 
* Our account of the Wild Cat is abbreviated from the one already pub- 
lished in ‘‘ British Mammals.” 
