-422 Mr. H. Schwann on Felis ocreata. 



Mr. W. E. de Winton, in Anderson's ' Zoology of Eg-ypt^ *, 

 has taken Meyer's Fe/i's lyhica f as representing Brace's 

 " Booted Lynx/' not having noticed Gmelin's earlier name. 

 It seems, however, very probable that Meyer's F. lyhica is 

 applicable to some form of caracal, as the first part of the 

 description he quotes from Forster's translation of Buffon \ 

 (the original describer) runs as follows : — " Corpore rufo, 

 auriculis albis nigrobarbatis." 



The names that have been applied to this group at different 

 times are given below, with the locality where each type was 

 collected, so far as this can be ascertained with any exactness: — 



'^Booted Lynx^'' Bruce, Travels Source of the Nile, vol. v. p. 146 (1790). 



— Has el Feel, Abyssinia. 

 Felis ocreata, Gmelin, Anh. Bruce, Ileisen (Rinlelii und Leipzig), vol. ii. 



p. 27 (1791). 

 Felis cafm, Desm. Encj^cl. Meth., Mauim. Suppl. p. 540 (1822).— 



"Oaffraria." 

 Felis caligata, Tenim. Monogr. Mamm. uo. 4, vol. i. p. 123, 1824 (1827) 



(ex Bruce). 

 Felis via)iiculata, Temm. op.cit. p. 128. — Ambukol, on the Nile. 

 Felis Rilppelli, Scliinz, Cuv. Thier. vol. iv. p. 509 (1825). — Dongola. 

 Felis buhastis and F. domjolance (nom. nud.), Hemp. & Ehrenb. Synib. 



rhys. dec. ii. text to pi. xvii. (1832). 

 Felis imlciiella, Gray, Charlesw. Mag. Nat. Hist. i. p. 577 (1837).— Egypt. 

 Felis margaritu, Loche, Ifev. et Mag. Zool. p. 49 (1858). — N'gouca, 



Algerian Sahara. 

 Felis cristata, Lataste, Faune des Vert, de Barbarie, p. 104 (1885), — 



Haidra. 



It appears very probable that F. jnilcJiella ought to be 

 considered a synonym of F. mayiiculata, Tenini., but the 

 British Museum does not at present possess sufficient North- 

 African material to settle the question definitely. 



I regard the following new forms as subspecies partly 

 because their differences from Felis ocreata are not marked 

 enough to warrant specific distinction, and also on account 

 of the great convenience the use of trinomial nomenclature is 

 in linking together the members of a widely distributed 

 group. 



Felis ocreata ruhida, subsp. n. 



Resembles F. o. ocreata in general proportions, but is 

 strongly suffused with fulvous on the head, body, and feet. 

 General colour of the upper surface '' hair-brown/' the 



* P. 171. 



t Meyer, 'Syst. Zool. Entd. Neuholland u. Afr.' p. 101 (1793). 

 X Forster, ' Ueberf. v. Buff. Naturgesch, der vierfiiasigen Thiere,' B. vi. 

 p. 313 (1780). 



