THE CARNIVORES 



which is considerably less than half the length of the head and body. The ground 

 color of the fur is generally of a light tawny, becoming whitish beneath. The 

 black spots are generally small and widely separated, but in the middle line of the 

 back tend to run together in streaks. The cheeks and forehead lack the dark 

 stripes found in so many of the smaller spotted cats, but there are two very char- 

 acteristic horizontal black bands on the upper part of the inner surface of each fore- 

 leg, by which a skin of this species may be recognized at a glance. The tail is 



THE SERVAI,. 

 (One-sixth natural size.) 



ringed throughout with black, and has a tip of the same color. In well-grown 

 adult examples the total length may reach four feet eight inches, of which sixteen 

 inches are occupied by the tail. This cat is found from one end of Africa to the other, 

 but appears to be more common in the south than in the north. Its "leggy " build 

 and poor coloration render the serval a by no means handsome representative of the 

 family. 



