THE PUMA 401 



opportunity occurs, springing upon its back, and inflicting terrible wounds with 

 teeth and claws. Jaguars with scarred backs are frequently killed, and others, not 

 long escaped from their tormentors, have been easily overcome by the hunters. ' ' 

 This is the more remarkable since the puma is an animal of far inferior size and 

 power to its adversary, although what it lacks in power it makes up in agility. 



The Guachos of South America are in the habit of capturing the jaguar with 

 the lasso ; and Mr. Hudson relates a curious instance of how one of these fierce 

 animals was absolutely paralyzed with fear, induced by a party of hunters who in- 

 tended to capture it in this manner. These hunters had started the jaguar in an 

 outlying district of the pampas, and it had taken refuge in a dense clump of dry 

 reeds. ' ' Though they could see it, ' ' writes Mr. Hudson, "it was impossible to 

 throw the lasso over its head, and after vainly trying to dislodge it, they at length 

 set fire to the reeds. Still it refused to stir, but lay with head erect, fiercely glar- 

 ing at them through the flames. Finally it disappeared from sight in the black 

 smoke ; and when the fire had burnt itself out, it was found dead and charred in the 

 same spot." Similarly, I^ivingstone relates how one of the harnessed antelopes of 

 South Africa will lie close among burning reeds until its horns and hair are singed ; 

 both these instances being examples of the paralyzing effects of fear, analogous to 

 that which causes a wolf when caught in a pit to lie perfectly still, even under the 

 infliction of severe blows, as if simulating death. 



Finally, it may be mentioned that, with the usual propensity for applying Old 

 World names to New World animals and places, the jaguar is commonly known to 

 the European inhabitants of South America as the tiger. 



THE PUMA (Felis concolor) 



As the jaguar in America usurps the name of the tiger, so its compatriot the 

 puma is generally known there either as the lion, or the panther, or, as corrupted, 

 painter. The animal is also known, more especially in works of natural history, 

 as the couguar or cougar, which was abbreviated by the French naturalist Buffon 

 from the Brazilian cuguacu-ara or cuguacuarasua. Puma appears to be the native 

 Peruvian name, and is the one usually adopted by English-speaking zoologists. 

 Next to the jaguar, the puma is the largest of the American cats ; and it is the only 

 large unspotted representative of the genus in the Western Hemisphere. From its 

 extensive geographical range, the puma, as Mr. F. W. True well remarks, may be 

 regarded as the most characteristic Mammal of America. In form, it is dis- 

 tinguished by the great relative length of the body, and the lithe build. The gen- 

 eral color of its fur is a uniform tawny, passing into whitish on the under parts of 

 the body ; but there is a darker streak running along the middle of the back, and 

 the extremity of the tail is dusky brown. The outer surfaces of the ears are black, 

 with a whitish area near the middle ; while the white upper lip is characterized by 

 the presence of a conspicuous black spot in the middle line. In marked contrast to 

 the black nostrils of the other large cats, those of the puma are flesh colored. 

 Such is the general coloration, but it has been observed that, at least in North 

 America, there is a seasonal variation in the color of the fur, which assumes in 

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