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" within a few hundred yards of the nearest house in the canton- 

 " ment (French Rocks) ; another was disturbed from the hedge 

 " of a compound at Coimbatore ; and lately we have heard of one 

 " killed in the General's compound at Secunderabad. Many 

 " instances are known of their intrusions into houses, attracted by 

 " their favorite food dogs, and some curious and interesting 

 " stories of such visits are extant amongst the railway employes 

 " on the several lines ; but I have gone far enough I think, and 

 " will close this scrambling notice of our second poacher on the 

 " list, only adding, in conclusion, my wish that it be understood, 

 " in treating the subject of felines, and indeed of all other animals 

 " I have written about, I only record what 1 have heard or seen ; 

 " the scientific discussion of any question raised I leave to those 

 " who have made such their study. The tales I have heard I tell 

 " as told to me, and what I have witnessed I describe to the best 

 " of my ability ; endeavoring, as far as I can, to afford information 

 " and amusement to those who think my lucubrations worthy 

 " of perusal. 



HAWKEYE." 



A few lines more about the black panther. Sportsmen know 

 that, when the light falls at favorable angles upon the skin of this 

 animal, the rosettes or clusters of spots are very visible and do not 

 appear to differ in arrangement from those of his paler relations. 

 Within the last few days, September 1869, while watching a fine 

 black cat basking in the sun, I remarked, that at particular lights 

 the animal exhibited most plainly the regular brindled markings of 

 the ordinary grey wild, or semi wild, cats : these markings were 

 as black as the rest of his hair, or blacker if possible, for he is a 

 beast which any witch or demon might delight in. His owner 

 told me, to my great satisfaction, that the cat's mother was a 

 half-wild grey brindle. Query. As all black panthers show their 

 clusters of spots, have all black cats some such spots or brindled 

 shades as those I have mentioned ? If so, and, as we all know, 

 black cats are not a distinct species, are we not to suppose that 

 the more important " betes noires" as friend " HAWKEYE" well 

 terms them, are the offspring of ordinary fawn-colored parents ? 



