438 THE CARNIVORES 



a dusky tint in others, while the under parts are whitish, with a yellow or red tinge. 

 The individual hairs, which vary in length according to the locality whence the 

 animals come, are not of uniform color throughout their length, the upper ends 

 being generally grayish white, with black tips. Usually fully-adult animals are 

 uniformly colored, but the limbs may be marked with dusky transverse bars, while, 

 more rarely, rows of indistinct spots or wavy lines may be detected. The inner side 

 of the upper part of the fore-limb usually has the two broad transverse bars common 

 to so many cats. The cheeks and breast may be either banded or pale, while the 

 tail is ringed, and its tip, like those of the ears, black. The soles of the feet are of 

 a dusky-brown color. The total length of the animal varies from thirty-three to 

 thirty-nine inches, the length of the tail (with the hair) in the smaller form being 

 eleven inches. 



Although the jungle-cat may be regarded as a characteristic animal of India, 

 where it is found from Cape Comorin to elevations of about eight thousand 

 feet in the Himalayas, and also occurs in Ceylon and Burma, yet it has a wide 

 range to the westward, being common in Persia, and thence extending through 

 Syria to North Africa. Occasionally black specimens of this cat are met with in 

 India. 



The jungle-cat, although, from its nocturnal habits, rarely seen, is described by 

 the late Dr. Jerdon as frequenting "alike jungles and the open country, and is very 

 partial to long grass and reeds, sugar cane fields, cornfields, etc. It does much 

 damage to game of all kinds, hares, partridges, etc., and once I shot a peafowl 

 at the edge of a sugar cane field, when one of these cats sprang out, seized the pea- 

 fowl, and, after a short struggle (for the bird was not dead), carried if off before 

 my astonished eyes,* and, in spite of my running up, made good his escape with his 

 booty." It is said to be very destructive at times to poultry. The present writer 

 once came suddenly upon the jungle-cat in the outer Himalayas on the edge of a 

 recently-cut field of maize, which, after staring in astonishment for a few seconds, 

 quietly made its way into cover. 



In disposition the jungle-cat is described as being very savage ; and, even when 

 caught young, is generally untamable. It is said to breed twice a year (like the 

 European wild cat), and to produce three or four kittens at a birth, which, when 

 captured are very difficult to rear. The late Sir. O. B. St. John, as quoted by Mr. 

 Blanford, when writing of his Persian experiences, states that among the mountains 

 of the South he found three kittens of this species so young as to be unable to drink 

 milk. "I reared them," continues this observer, "with some difficulty, till about 

 three months old, by which time they became very tame and playful, climbing up 

 on my knees when at breakfast, and behaving very much like ordinary domestic 

 kittens. Unfortunately one was killed by a greyhound, and another by a scorpion, 

 within a few days, on which the survivor became morose, and refused to be com- 

 forted, even by the society of a kitten of his own age, which I procured as a 

 companion to him. When I left Persia in 1867, he was a year old, and very large 

 and powerful. Two English bull terriers I had, who made short work of the largest 

 domestic cat, could do nothing with my wild cat. In their almost daily battles the 

 dogs always got the worst of it." 



