JOS CARNIVORA. 



The male attains the length of three feet. As its name indicates, it is 

 found m the plains of South America, its food being the small rodents 

 thaj; abound there. It is a harmless creature. 



The Clouded Tiger or Rim.\u-dahan, Ft/is macrociiis, is marked 

 verv irregularly — some spots are oval, some angular; some open, some 

 solid. It has stripes like the tiger, spots like the jaguar, rosettes like the 

 leopard, and black-edged spots like the ocelots. Its color is gray, and it 

 always has two bold, uninterrupted bands of velvety-black running the 

 whole length of its back. The hair is long and very fine, and thus its 

 tail is peculiarly capable of that curious expansion which is familiar to 

 us in the domestic cat. When full grown its body measures about forty 

 niches, its tail about twenty-five. 



In spite of its size it is a gentle creature. Two specimens, possessed 

 by Sir Stamford Raffles, were very playful, rolling over on their backs 

 the better to enjoy the caresses of those who would pat or stroke their 

 beautiful soft fur. Nor did they confine their sportful propensities to 

 human companions. One of them, while on board ship, struck up a great 

 friendship for a little dog that was its co-voyager, and used to gambol 

 with its diminutive playfellow in the most considerate manner, taking 

 great care to do no damage through its superior strength and size. 

 While on board, it was fed chiefly on fowls, and generally used to extract 

 a little amusement out of its dinner before it proceeded to the meal. 

 When it received the fowl, it was accustomed to pounce upon the dead 

 bird just as if it had been a living one, and tear it to suck the blood. It 

 would then toss the bird about for hours, just as a cat tosses a mouse, 

 tumbling over it, and jumping about it. 



The natives of Sumatra, where it is found, assert that it is by no 

 means a savage animal, and that it generall)- restricts its depredations to 

 the smaller deer and to birds, including domesticated poultry. The 

 curious name which is given to this animal is of native formation, 

 and has been assigned on account of its arboreal propensities. It 

 spends much of its time upon the tree branches, and lies in wait foa" its 

 prey, crawling along a bough, with its head resting in the fork of the 

 branches. The word " Dahan,'" or " Dayan," signifies the forked portion 

 of a bough. 



The COLOCOLO, Ftlis fcrox, is a small savage creature. Its color is 

 gray, with the exception of the under parts of the body, the throat, and 

 inside </ the limbs, which are white. Black streaks, occasionall}- diversi- 



