366 ZOOLOGY 



shambling gallop that one realises the nature of the animal. The leopard 

 is as abundant and omnipresent in the Uganda Protectorate as everywhere 

 else in Africa south of the Sahara and away from the settled districts of 

 Cape Colony. In forest regions the leopard is as much dreaded by the 

 natives as is the lion on the plains. Many are the stories told to one 

 bv the people of the Seniliki forests or the more forested regions of 

 Uganda, such as Kiagwe, of the way in which leopards attack women, 

 children, and even men on the outskirts of villages. 



The serval cat is extremely abundant in this Protectorate up to the 

 verge of the Congo Forest, though not within that forest. The skin of this 

 animal is much prized by the negroes in the Protectorate as a handsome 

 addition to their clothing, or as their only garment. In some districts only 

 young men of royal blood are allowed to wear the serval skin. The serval 

 bears a strong resemblance in the open to a diminutive cheetah. This 

 resemblance is due to the length and slenderness of the limbs; but the 

 tail is much shorter than in the great hunting cat. The resemblance, of 

 course, is only superficial, because the serval is a true cat, and is closely 

 alU<'(l to tlie lynxes, whereas the cheetah, as my readers know, is in 

 <i different genus from the typical felines.* Tiie serval hunts its game to a 

 great extent, and is capable of running down much of its prey, such 

 as voung antelopes. One not infrequently sees a male and female serval 

 liunting together. The kittens of this handsome animal are occasionally 

 caught by the natives and semi-domesticated. 



In the Kingdom of Uganda and in the Western Pio\ince of the 

 Protectorate is found the servaline cat, which is considered to be a near 

 ally of tlie serval. It is distinguished from the last-named by its 

 markings. These in the serval are large simple black spots, running into 

 stripes here and there on a pale yellowish or yellowish grey ground. In 

 the servaline cat, however, though a few bold stripes are retained about 

 the throat and neck, and perhaps on the limbs, the whole of the rest 

 of the body is covered with tiny black spots, while the ground colour of 

 the fur has darkened from pale yellow to a greyish brown. It is not 

 very uncommon to see skins which are intermediate in markings between 

 the extremely small and numei-ous spots of the servaline and the bold 

 black patches and stripes of the common serval. Evidently the servaline 

 cat is a species in process of formation, and its markings are subject to 

 great variability. The natives state that some serval skins are a uniform 

 dark blackish brown (Melanosis, of course). I have not seen any of these 

 black servals. What is not generally known in England, however, is the 

 large size to which these servaline cats may grow. Their tails are not 

 very long — they are thick and bushy ; but the size of the skin sometimes 



* Cyncelurus. 



