FELIs. 193 
under which we were pitched. Whilst I was at work I.usually had one 
in my lap and the other cuddled behind my back on the chair. One 
day one of them, which had been exploring the hollows of an old tree 
close by, rushed into my tent and fell down in convulsions at my feet. 
I did everything in my power for the poor little creature, but in vain, it 
died in two or three minutes, having evidently been bitten by a snake. 
The survivor was inconsolable, refused food, and went mewing all over 
the place and kept rolling at my feet, rubbing itself against them as 
though to beg for the restoration of its brother. At last I sent into a 
village and procured a common kitten, which I put into the basket with 
the other. There was a great deal of spitting and growling at first, but 
in time they became great friends, but the villager was no match for the 
forester. It was amusing to see the wild one dart like a squirrel up the 
walls of the tent on to the roof; the other would try to follow, scramble 
up a few feet, and then, hanging by its claws, look round piteously before 
it dropped to the ground. 
No. 212. FELIS TORQUATA. 
The Spotted Wild-Cat ( Jerdon’s No. 114). 
Native Name.—Lhan-rahn-manjur, Mahrathi. 
Hasitat,—North-Western, Central, and Southern India. 
DeEscrIpTION.—Ground colour pale greyish fulvous or cat-grey, with 
numerous round black spots, smaller on the head, nape, and shoulders ; 
longitudinal lines on the occiput ; cheek striped; breast spotted, but 
belly free from spots; on the limbs distinct cross bands ; within the 
arms one or two broad black streaks; tail tapering more or less, and 
marked with a series of well-defined rings and a black tip; smallish 
ears, as in the domestic cat, reddish outside with a small dusky tuft at 
tip ; paws black underneath. 
Size.—Head and body, from 16 to 24 inches; tail, about half the 
length. 
Blyth first obtained this from Hansi, where it was stated to frequent 
open sandy plains, living on field rats. Jerdon at Hissar and in the 
Central Provinces. At Hissar he found it among low sand-hills, where it 
appeared to feed on the jerboa-rat (Gerbillus indicus), which is common 
there. Sykes seems to have confused this species with a domestic 
variety run wild, as the habits differ from the present species. 
No. 213. FELIS MANUL. 
The Black-chested Wild-Cat. 
Hasitat.—Tibet, Central and Northern Asia. 
Description.—Rufescent pale grey; chest and front of neck and 
part of belly sooty black, “terminating forward near the ears horn-wise 
a) 
