FELIS CONCOLOR. 



29 



The lono-er the sleei) continues tlie less frequent Jo the respirations 

 become and the lower does the temperature tall, till finally the con- 

 dition of deep and continuetl sleep — the true letharu^y of hiberna- 

 tion — is attained. This apparent phenomenon, then, is a genuine 

 physiological process, differing in degree only from ordinary sleep. 

 It is the result of conditions of environment, and has liecome an 

 hereditary habit, enabling certain mammals to exist during a pe- 

 riod when their usual food supply is cut off. The dormant state is 

 sometimes brought on by extremes of temperature, but this is not 

 often the case. 



Few mammals are commonly seen by those who traverse the 

 forests of the Adirondacks, and it is a fact that the average sportsman, 

 during his annual " trip to the North Woods," rarely sees any save 

 Red Squirrels, Chipmunks, a i'cw Mice, and perhaps a Deer or Por- 

 cupine. This is in part due to the nature of their haunts, partly be- 

 cause they do not roam aliout much in broad da)-light, but chiefly 

 because of their shy dispositions and war)- habits. The experienced 

 hunter, more familiar with their haunts and ways, tails in with a 

 larger number ; still, b)' far the greater portion go unobserved. Of 

 the forty-two kinds found here I have myself seen living, and in the 

 wild state, all but three ; therefore the remarks upon their habits, in 

 the following biographies, are, when the contrary is not stated, drawn 

 largely from the results of personal observation. 



Order FER/l-:. FissU'F.niA. Family Felid^e 



FELIS CONCOLOR Lmua^is. 



Cougar; Panther: ifountain Lion (of the West); Puma, (of Sitiitli Am.). 



It is not many years since the Cougar or Panther, second largest 

 of American Fclidcc, was a common inhabitant ot the primeval forests 

 of the Adirondacks; but, since the State offered a bounty''' for their 



* The law granting this Ijounty was passed April 26, 1S71. It reads as follows: " A State bonnty 

 of thirty dollars for a grown wolf, fifteen dollars for a pnp wolf, and twenty dollars for a panther, 



