428 THE CARNIVORES 



in the principality. In Scotland, although its distribution is now greatly restricted, 

 the wild cat is not very uncommon in the more secluded localities. 



Domestic cats that have escaped and taken to the woods are frequently mis- 

 taken for the wild cat ; and it is owing to such errors in identification that, accord- 

 ing to Dr. E. Hamilton, the supposed occurrence of the species in Ireland has been 

 asserted. 



Wild cats are expert climbers ; and their favorite places of resort are the most 

 inaccessible mountainous woods, where they retreat not only to hollow trees, or 

 deep thickets, but to concealed fissures of rocks, in which they seek their safety 

 and repose, and bring forth and rear their young. The female usually produces 

 from four to five kittens in a litter ; and instances are on record where these have 

 been brought forth in the deserted or captured nests of some of the larger birds. 



The fierceness and savage disposition of the wild cat, or "cat-a-mouut," as it 

 was often called by the older writers, is proverbial, and displays itself even in the 

 kittens, which will hiss and spit vigorously at all intruders on their lair. Several 

 instances are related where wild cats have even attacked human beings. The de- 

 struction which they inflict on grouse, ptarmigan, rabbits, hares, fawns, and lambs, 

 renders them detested alike by gamekeepers and shepherds, and has thus largely 

 contributed to their reduced numbers in those parts of Britain where the species 

 still survives. From the shortness and bushiness of its. tail, there is good reason to 

 believe that the wild cat is not the parent stock of our domestic cats. Still, how- 

 ever, there are undoubted instances where crossing has taken place between the 

 two, such interbreeding having been frequently authenticated. On this point Jar- 

 dine observes that "in the north of Scotland there has been occasional crossing with 

 our native species, and the result of these crosses has been kept in our houses. I 

 have seen many cats closely resembling the wild cat, and one or two that could 

 scarcely be distinguished from it." Commenting on this statement, Blyth remarks 

 that "such cats are never seen in the southern parts of England ; still as compared 

 with any Indian tame cat, the affinity of the ordinary British cat to F, catus is 

 manifest, and is due, I suspect, to frequent intermixture at a time when the tame 

 cat was first introduced into Britain, and continued rare, while the wild species 

 was far more abundant than at present. ' ' 



PALLAS' s CAT (Felis manul} 



Apparently nearly allied to the European wild cat is a handsomely-colored! 

 species from the Siberian steppes, the Mongolian deserts, and the highlands of 

 Tibet, known as the manul cat, or Pallas' s cat. It is about the size of the ordinary 

 domestic cat, with very long, thick, and soft fur, and a thick, bushy tail, of about 

 half the length of the head and body. The head is remarkably broad, and the eyes 

 are directed more forward than in any other species. 



The general color of this cat varies from a silvery gray to a yellowish buff, 

 becoming darker on the back, the chest being dark brown, while the under parts 

 are lighter. The loins are marked by a few widely-separated transverse stripes, 

 while the club-like tail has six or seven dark rings. Occasionally the limbs 



