HUNTING-LEOPARD 445 



desert districts are probably paler -coloured than those which live 

 among grass and scrub. 



The typical representative of the caracal appears to be the one 

 inhabiting Transcaspia, Persia, Syria, Egypt, etc. The North African 

 race, F. c. berberoriim, was separated by Dr. P. Matschie on p. 144 of 

 the Sitzungs-Berichte Ges. Naturfor. Berlin for 1892; it inhabits Algeria, 

 Tunisia, and probably Morocco. The East African race, F. c. nubtca, 

 ranging from the Sudan to Senegambia and Cape Colony, was named 

 so long ago as 1869 by Fitzinger, The northern race is a large, richly 

 coloured animal, whereas the caracal from South Africa appears to be 

 darker and greyer, with a somewhat shorter tail. Mr. Pocock suggests, 

 however, in the Zoological Society's Proceedings for 1907, p. 675, that 

 such differences may be dependent upon age, and that the living 

 examples which have come under his notice do not justify the 

 recognition of more than a single African race of the species. 



Extreme agility and speed are two of the leading traits of the 

 caracal, which is said to feed largely upon the smaller antelopes as 

 well as upon birds. Although seldom seen in South Africa by the 

 European sportsman, it is regularly hunted and snared by the 

 Bechuanas for the sake of its beautiful fur ; the skins being carefully 

 matched and made up into karosses, or cloaks, which are worth, even 

 up-country, as much as five guineas each. 



THE HUNTING-LEOPARD 



{Cyncclurus juba/ns) 



IJilosi, SwAZI ; Ingululi, ZULU ; Lenau, Bechuana ; Liiipard, 



Cape Dutch 



(Plate xv, fig. 4) 



From all the species — both cats and lynxes — included in the 

 genus Felis, the hunting-leopard, or chita, to quote once more from 

 the Game Animals of India, etc., is distinguished by the circumstance 

 that it is unable to withdraw its claws entirely within the margins of 

 their protecting sheaths, so that the points remain exposed. The 

 body is more slender, and the limbs are proportionately longer and 

 slighter than in any of the species of cats ; the animal being more 

 specially adapted for racing than any of the latter. There are likewise 



