298 Game of Europe, W. & N. Asia & America 



THE MEDITERRANEAN LYNX 



[Fe/is \_Lynx'\ pardina) 

 (Plate V. Fig. 9) 



This well-marked species is a member of the fauna of the Mediter- 

 ranean tract, and probably bears much the same relationship to the true 

 lynx of the more northern parts of the Old World as is presented by 

 the red lynx of lower North America to the Canadian form of the common 

 lynx. 



It is a smaller and shorter-coated animal than the common lynx, and, 

 judging from the series of skins in the collection of the British Museum, 

 appears to be distinctly spotted at all seasons and at all ages. The ground- 

 colour of the fur is of a rich rufous yellow, quite different from either the 

 grey or the rufous phase of the common lynx. The spots are black, very 

 small in size, irregular in shape, and numerous, and are thus very different 

 from the few large and widely separated spots often seen in the dark- 

 spotted phase of the common lynx. The contrast in this respect between 

 the two species is very clearly shown by two mounted specimens now 

 exhibited in the British Museum, the one being an ordinary example of the 

 present species, and the other a dark-spotted common lynx from Norway. 

 As in the common lynx, the tail is tipped with black. The white on the 

 throat forms only a small triangular patch. When viewed in profile the 

 skull differs from that of the common lynx by the elevation and convexity 

 of the region between the sockets of the eyes ; and the nasal bones also 

 extend further up on the forehead. The arrangement of the bones of 

 the post-palatal region of the skull is, however, very similar to that of the 

 common species, and thus different from the condition obtaining in the 

 American red lynx, as described under the heading of that species. 



