THE RED LYNX, 199 
Habits—From the account given in Dr. Hart Merriam’s 
** Mammals of the Adirondack Region,” it would appear that in 
habits this Lynx differs to a certain extent from the preceding, 
a circumstance which, so far as it goes, is in favour of its right 
‘to specific distinction. Frequenting rocky hills and ledges, the 
Red Lynx does not exhibit that antipathy to the neighbourhood 
‘of human habitations which is such a characteristic trait of the 
Canadian Lynx; and it is accordingly quite common in thickly 
populated districts, where it carries off lambs, young pigs, and 
poultry from the farmyard. In the wilds its food consists, how- 
ever, of Rabbits, Squirrels, Mice, Grouse, and such small birds 
as it can contrive to capture. The young, generally three in 
number, although there may be as few as two and as many as 
four in a litter, are generally produced in some hollow tree or 
log, where a moss-lined cradle is prepared by the mother for 
their reception. When enraged, the Red Lynx hisses, spits 
and snarls in the most menacing manner. 
“An anecdote quoted under the head of the Jungle Cat is 
paralleled by the following experience of Dr. Merriam. ‘In 
1873 or 1874,” writes this naturalist, ‘I shot a Grouse as it was 
flying along the north side of Mount Tom, in Massachusetts. 
Scarcely had it touched the rocky slope when a Wild Cat 
sprang upon it from behind a neighbouring bush, and, in a 
succession of rapid leaps, started up the side of the mountain 
with the Grouse in its mouth. The contents of the other 
barrel of my gun caused him to change his mind as well as 
direction.” 
Mr. Herrick relates that in Minnesota “ during severe 
weather the Wild Cat is often forced to feed upon the Porcu- 
pine, and it is of no unfrequent occurrence that she pays for 
her temerity with her life. I have several times secured them 
with the head and throat filled with the spines, rendering 
the animals helpless. Such specimens were invariably poor 
