Game Animals of India, etc. 



creature, while its representative in Ladak and Tibet 

 has to be satisfied, for the most part, with bare rocks 

 as a dwelling-place, it is only natural to expect that 

 there would be a marked difference in colour between 

 the two. 



Lynxes are the most aberrant representatives of the 

 genus Felis — so aberrant, indeed, that they are often 

 assigned a genus to themselves. From the caracal, 

 which is their nearest relation, lynxes differ by the 

 abundant frill, or ruff, of long hair fringing the throat, 

 which helps to give them their peculiar and striking 

 appearance, and likewise by the shortness of the tail, 

 which does not nearly reach so low as the hocks. The 

 coat is more or less distinctly marked with small solid 

 black spots, and the pads of the feet are clothed with a 

 variable amount of hair. A generally " stilty " appear- 

 ance, due to the relatively long legs and the short tail, 

 is characteristic of lynxes. The tufts of long black hairs 

 surmounting the pointed ears have been already alluded 

 to under the heading of the caracal ; and certain char- 

 acters distinctive of the skull will be found described in 

 works of a more scientific nature. 



In the Tibetan lynx the general colour of the thick 

 and soft fur is pale sandy grey, or isabelline, with the 

 under-parts white, and the extremity of the tail, the 

 margins, tips, and tufts of the ears, together with a 

 variable number of hairs in the throat-ruff, black. In 

 the summer coat the whole tawny area is ornamented 

 with black spots ; but in winter these disappear from 

 all parts except the limbs and flanks, and sometimes 

 even there. In rare instances black spots may be 

 noticed on the white under-parts in the summer. The 

 Tibetan race is further characterised by the relative 

 shortness of the hair on the toes. 



This race inhabits the plateau of Eastern and 

 Western Tibet, and certainly extends into Baltistan ; 

 but its exact geographical limits are impossible to define, 

 because, when we descend lower down the valley of the 



342 



