Game Animals of India, etc. 



lynx-like. In size it is intermediate between the 

 jungle-cat and an ordinary lynx ; but it is of remarkably 

 slight and slender build, the limbs being proportionately 

 long, and the tail, which reaches down to the hocks, 

 about equal to one-third the length of the head and 

 body. The height at the shoulder varies trom i6 to 

 1 8 inches, the length of the head and body from 26 

 to 30 inches, and that of the tail between 9 and 

 10 inches. 



No one can fail to recognise a caracal at the first 

 glance, its lynx-like ears, uniformly red colour, and 

 comparatively long tail rendering it unmistakable. 

 With the exception of the outer surface of the ears, a 

 pair of spots on the upper lip, and sometimes others on 

 the face, as well as, in some instances, the tip of the 

 tail, which are black, and two pairs of pale spots in the 

 neighbourhood of the eyes, the whole of the upper- 

 parts and limbs are uniformly reddish, varying from 

 rufous fawn to brownish rufous. On the under-parts 

 the colour varies from pale rufous to white, the inside 

 of the ears being likewise white. Although it is rarely 

 that traces of spotting can be detected on the back and 

 sides of adult individuals, pale rufous spots are generally 

 more or less in evidence on the light under surface of 

 the body, and in newly-born kittens the v/hole coat 

 is distinctly spotted. Individuals inhabiting desert 

 districts are probably paler-coloured than those which 

 live among grass and scrub. 



The caracal may be regarded as a member of that 

 section of the Indian fauna which attains its maximum 

 development in Western Asia and Africa. Always 

 frequenting more or less open country, it sometimes 

 takes advantage of the cover afforded by bushes and 

 long grass, but never that of forests. Perhaps its most 

 distinguishing trait is its agility, by which it is enabled 

 to capture birds on the wing at a height of several feet 

 above the ground, springing at them as they fly over 

 its head, and knocking them over with a blow of one 



340 



