376 Dr. Traill on American Animals of the Genus Felis. 



an appearance of activity and strength, which fully confirm- 

 ed the accounts of its prowess collected by Humboldt. 

 Felis Puma. 



For this animal I would propose the following specific cha- 

 racter, which appears necessary to distinguish it completely 

 from Felis nnicolor, described by me in the third volume of 

 the Society's Memoirs. 



Felis, corpore dilute badio ; aurihus nigris; caudd clavijhrmi^ 

 apice nigricanti. 



Cat, ivith a light-hay body ; black cars ; a claviform tail, 

 broivnisk-black at the tip. 



I had an opportunity of inspecting several skins of this ani- 

 mal, the pi'operty of Mr. Edmonston, who had killed them in 

 the interior of Demerary. None of them were without the 

 marks indicated in the specific character. The whiskers of all 

 arose from a dark-coloured spot on the face. The blackish tip 

 of the tail measured five inches ; and, from the length and po- 

 sition of the hairs, made the extremity the thickest part of the 

 tail, or gave it a claviform shape. One of these animals was 

 a female, shot while searching for prey in a lofty tree : its 

 whelp was at the bottom, feeding on a monkey, which had 

 probably been killed by the mother. The young one was also 

 shot. The body of the latter measured, from nose to tail, two 

 feet, and the tail one foot one inch. The upper part of the 

 body was not of an uniform colour like the dam, but it had 

 three chains of blackish-brown spots along its back, with se- 

 veral scattered markings of the same colour on its sides, neck, 

 and shoulders. The crown of the head had several obscure 

 stripes ; but the blackish spot at the roots of the vibrissae, and 

 the black backs of the ears, were very conspicuous. The lower 

 part of the bod}', and the insides of the limbs, were of a dirty 

 yellowish-grey, with dull brown bars. These marks disappear 

 in the full-grown animal. 



The lai-gest of Mr. Edmonston's specimens seemed an ani- 

 mal of prodigious power. It had a much larger head, in pro- 

 portion to its size, than the figures of Buffon and Shaw ; and 

 its canine teeth were enormously large. The dimensions are 

 as follow : Feet. Inch. 



Length from nose to tail 4 9 



of tail 2 6 



Total length 7 3 



Length ot the head 1 



Circumference of ditto 1 9^ 



Length of the large canine teeth above the jaw... 1^ 

 Liverpool, November 1822. 



LXXV. On 



