THE DESERT CAT. 181 
_but the former are furriers’ skins, having been bought in the 
bazaars at Yarkand and Kashgar, and the tails in both cases 
“seem mutilated. ‘The tails, too, of & ornata in the Museum 
collection vary considerably in length, and range from eight to 
thirteen inches in specimens of approximately the same size. 
‘With regard to the second point, that of colour, the difference 
of shade is so slight that it is only perceptible in a strong light. 
Finally, there are in the Museum collection many specimens of 
_£. ornata with quite as distinct spots on the abdomen as in & 
shawiana. With regard to the skulls of & ornata, FE. chaus, 
and &: shawiana (there is no skull in the only known skin of 
fF. caudata), there does not seem to be any real substantial dif- 
ference. Although there are minor points of distinction which 
have been indicated by Mr. Blanford, yet it does not appear 
that any of these differences are sufficiently important to be due 
to anything but individual variations.” 
_ Distribution—India; confined to the dry rocky districts of the 
north-west from Banda, through the North-west Provinces to 
Agra, Sambhar, and Sind, where the species is very common. 
Habits.—As its name implies, the Desert Cat is an inhabitant 
of open sandy districts (with the colour of which its spotted 
yellow coat admirably harmonises), never resorting to forests, 
and being to a considerable extent diurnal in its habits. As 
already mentioned, it breeds freely with Domestic Cats, and is 
probably the parent. form of the spotted breed of India. A 
correspondent of Jerdon writes that in the district of Hurriana 
it is very common, “frequenting open sandy plains where the 
Field-Rat [ Gerdillus hurriane| must be its principal food. I 
hardly ever remember seeing it in what could be called jungle, 
or even in grass. One of these spotted Cats lived for a long 
time under my haystack, and I believe it to have been the pro- 
duce of a tame Cat by a wild one. The wild one I have seen 
of half a dozen shades of colour, and you frequently see a ten- 
