84 



U. S. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS ZOOLOGY GENERAL REPORT. 



tip, there is a sooty tinge. The long hairs of the body above are of a pale brownish-yellow, 

 with the tips black. This gives a very fine and indistinct mottling to the color, and occasionally 

 the accidental aggregation of these tips conveys the idea of small dark blotches or lines, which, 

 however, have no real existence in the adult. 



A young specimen (124) agrees in general characters with the above, except that the hair is 

 considerably longer, owing perhaps to its colder locality. The tail tapers gradually from a 

 thick base to a rather slender tip, which is slightly bushy. There are a few obsolete dusky 

 blotches on the back and the sides of the legs. The ears are entirely black on their convexity, 

 and the tail is much more dusky at the tip. 



Measurements. 



The American panther or cougar is tolerably abundant throughout the whole of North 

 America, as far north as 50 or 60, especially in the line of the mountains. Southward it 

 reaches the very extreme point of the continent of South America, to about 50 S. E., having 

 thus an extreme range of about 110 degrees, exceeding any other cat in extent of distribution. 

 Lieutenant Gilliss brought a fine specimen from Chile. 



A specimen from the Brazos river, in Texas, collected by Captain Marcy, is rather redder than 

 the one described above, and it is probable that the species varies considerably with season. 



Young. A pair of kittens from Fort Steilacoom, W. T., (1021, 1022), brought by Dr. Suckley, 

 and probably of this species, have the upper parts and sides of a pale, rusty gray, with nume 

 rous distinct round blotches (largest on the middle of the back), scattered quite uniformly. 

 The ground color of the belly is rather lighter than that of the back, the two passing insensibly 

 into each other along the sides. On the lower parts of the sides may be distinctly made out a 

 series of narrow transverse bars, meeting in the central part of the belly, the posterior portion 

 of which, however, is immaculate, and rather more white than elsewhere. The tail shows 

 three transverse dark bars above, besides a terminal one, these occupying nearly the whole 

 upper portion, the rings indeed extending all round. The exterior surface of the ear is densely 

 hairy and entirely white ; the interior is entirely black, without any spot ; there is a sooty 

 patch on the neck, within and behind the ear, and a considerable suffusion of the same over the 

 whole throat. The eyelids are broadly dark, sooty brown, as is also a spot above and a bar 

 behind the eye. There is also a broad stripe of black, from the anterior canthus, along the 

 nose and upper lip, involving the whiskers. There is no trace of the narrow lines of black 

 along the rows of whiskers of the wild cats, the whole being confluently black. 



