THE WILD GAT 



In its native mountains the ounce attacks wild 

 sheep and goats, and it prefers, like its prey, lofty 

 altitudes. The cat is usually found at such heights 

 as 9,000 feet, but in winter descends rather lower. 

 Like the puma, but unlike its nearer relative the 

 leopard, the ounce^apparently will not fall foul of man. 

 At any rate there appears to be no positive record of 

 its ever having done so. In the Caucasus dwells a 

 leopard-like creature which has been confounded with 

 the ounce. But it has been shown that the " leopard " 

 of the Caucasus is a true leopard, though differing a 

 good deal from the African and Indian beasts. Its 

 paleness of hue approaches that of the ounce, but it 

 is not so pronounced. Felis tulliana, as it is called, 

 is apparently a " good " species of leopard, and is not 

 the same as Felis uncia. 



THE WILD CAT 



Felis catus of Britain and Europe generally is one 

 of those creatures which are distinctly on the wane ; 

 that is to say, so far as concerns this country. On the 

 Continent in wild forests, such as those of Transylvania 

 and in many parts of Europe, the wild cat still lives 

 and multiplies. A defunct one floating down the 

 River Adige allowed a witty onlooker to term it the 

 "poor cat i' the adage." In Regent's Park the 

 cats chiefly observable are kept for the purpose of 

 thinning the rats and mice which revel there in un- 

 accustomed plenty, and do not belong to Felis catus, 

 as sdme people still think. The genuine wild cat, how- 

 ever, with which we are here concerned is often on view 

 in the Zoo. There was until lately a fine one, pre- 

 sented by that eminent zoological observer, the late 

 Lord Lilford. This cat spoke at times, and with no 

 un certain sound ; its loudness was indisputable, and 

 an excellent sympathizer with beasts who wrote in the 



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