288 Game of Europe, W. & N. Asia Sc America 



THK MANCHURIAN TIGER 



{I'clis tigris I oil gi pills) 

 (Plate V. Fig. 5) 



The Maiicluirian race of the tiger, as stated in Great mid Siiid// (itniw of 

 lih/iii, c/f. (where a skin is figured), is distinguished hy its large size, heavy 

 luiild, rehitively sliort and thick, liinhs, aiul the great length, thickness, and 

 fineness of the fur. In many skins the trround-colour of" the fur is less 

 deep than in the Indian tiger, with the stripes less numerous and more 

 incomplete. And a comparison of" the skin of the Manchurian tiger figured 

 on p. 279 of the work cited witti the one of the Indian tiger on p. 277 of' 

 the same will show that the white of the under-parts anil inner sides of the 

 limhs occupies a much larger area in the former than in the latter, with, of 

 course, a proportionate reduction in the extent of the tawnv of the hack 

 and outer surface of the limhs. Specially noticeahle is the great constric- 

 tion of the tawny area on the hinder part of the hack. 



The name Fc/is loiig'ipilis was applied by Fitzinger to the tiger of 

 Amiu'land, which is thus the typical representative of this race. Long- 

 haired tigers are to he met with in suitable localities over almost the whole 

 of Central and Northern Asia, from Amurland antl the valley of the 

 Iloang-ho to the neighbourhood of Lake Balkash and the Tarim valley, 

 and thus on to the Aralo-Caspian region, where we enter the habitat of the 

 I^ersian race, with which the West Central Asian form not improbably 

 intergrades. At no very distant epoch tigers inhabited the Nevy Siberian 

 Islands, in the Arctic Ocean, where their hones liave been found. They 

 are unknown in Kamchatka, as they are in Japan. 



Dr. Matschie,' who is of opinion that more than one race of the species 



^ S.B. Ccs. nalurj'or. BcrHii, 1897, pp. 16, 72. 



