TIGER-CAT 437 



chimpanzi. . . . If in the future it be shown that the two live side by 

 side in the same locality, the fact might be cited as evidence either of 

 their specific distinctness or of their dimorphic [two-phased] nature." 



Assuming the small-spotted serval to be a definite species, it may 

 be divided into the following local races or subspecies. In the first, 

 or typical, race, from Sierra Leone, the back is thickly and distinctly 

 spotted, and usually shows a narrow dorsal stripe ; while the fore part 

 of the shoulders, the sides, and the upper surface of the neck are 

 practically uniform in colouring. 



From the above the Uganda race {^F. s. pantastida) differs by the fore 

 part of the shoulders being as thickly spotted as the back and the upper 

 surface of the neck longitudinally streaked ; while another distinctive 

 feature is the rich tawny yellow ground-colour of the flanks and 

 thighs. 



The third, or Monbutta, race {F. s. poliotricha) is distinguished 

 from the preceding by the decidedly grey tint of the ground-colour 

 of the thighs and flanks. 



Finally, the British East African race (^F. s. liposticta), as represented 

 by a skin purchased at Mombasa, differs from all the other three in 

 the absence of distinct spots or stripes on the back from behind the 

 shoulders to the root of the tail. 



THE AFRICAN TIGER-CAT 



{Felis celidogastej') 



This species, which has the build of an ordinary domesticated 

 cat, although considerably superior to the latter in the matter of size, 

 is of great interest on account of the fact that different colour-phases 

 occur in the same individual. On one occasion a young gibbon ape 

 kept in the Zoological Society's Gardens changed the colour of its 

 coat from drab to black ; this change being apparently a permanent 

 one, and not merely seasonal. An analogous change took place in an 

 African tiger-cat living in the menagerie in 1907, the colour-change 

 in this instance being from bright red to dusky grey. Unfortunately, 

 the creature died soon after its metamorphosis, so that it could not 

 be determined whether the change was seasonal, like the exchange 

 of the red summer-dress of the roebuck for the olive garb of winter. 

 It is, however, probable that the dusky coat would have been 

 permanently retained. Such unexpected changes are very annoying. 



