MAMMALS FEL1DAE LYNX RUFUS. 93 



X 



LYNX KUFUS, var. MACULATUS. 



Texas Wild Cat. 



Felis maculata, HORSFIELD & VIGORS, Zool. Jour. IV, Oct. 1828, Jan. 1829, 381; pi. xiii. (Mexico.) 

 f.ynx rufus var. maculatus, ATTD. & BACH. N A. Quad. II, 1851, 293; pi. xcii. 

 ? Felis rufa, GEOFFR. Voy. Venus, Zool. I, 1855, 150; pi. ix. (Monterey, Cal.) 



Sp. CH. Fur short and rather coarse. Color above and on the sides, light reddish-brown, overlaid with grayish in the 

 winter. Quite distinct spots of darker on the back and sides. Collar on the throat paler than sides. Beneath, white, spotted. 

 Inside of legs banded. Tail with a small black patch at the end above. Inner surface of ear black, with a white patch. 



In the examination of this species I have been greatly aided by a large series of skulls 

 belonging to the Berlandier collection of Lieut. Couch, showing the species in almost every 

 gradation of growth, from very young to extreme age. As a general rule these skulls are 

 much narrower and more elongated, the cranium of less capacity, and the outline of the zygoma, 

 as viewed from above, considerably straighter and more parallel with the axis of the skull than 

 in the other species. The species itself appears to be actually larger than the others, (not 

 including L. canadensis.) 



Unfortunately, the series of skins is much less complete and does not afford indications as 

 satisfactory as the skulls. There is enough, however, to show a redder color in summer, with 

 spots more or less distinct always discernable on the back and sides, shorter hair and a longer 

 tail. 



The typical specimens from the Rio Grande, all appear strongly marked. Those from 

 Northern Texas are less manageable, while in specimens brought from the Gila, at Camp Yuma, 

 by Mr. Schott, there are certain difficulties in assigning either this or the L. rufus as the true 

 species. Whether any other kinds of Lynx may be in question here, I am not now prepared to 

 say. I will, for the present, retain these specimens under L. maculatus. 



Description of No. 132, from El Paso. The fur of this specimen is very short, not more than 

 three-quarters of an inch on the back and sides ; rather longer on the belly ; the hair is very 

 coarse and thin. The general color above is a chestnut-brown, darkest on the vertebral region. 

 This prevalent tint, however, is imparted by a large number of crowded rounded spots, between 

 which the ground color is lighter. There is also a slight sprinkling of black, especially in the 

 darker chestnut of the median line, produced by subterminal annulations of the coarse hairs. 

 The dark spots may be distinctly made out over the whole superior and lateral sufaces of the 

 body and limbs, largest on the flanks. The under parts are rather white, with large spots of 

 black. On the inside of the thighs the black markings assume the condition of five or six trans 

 verse narrow fasciae, continuous, with rows of dark-chestnut dots in the lighter chestnut of the 

 side of the body ; one or two broad fasciae may be seen on the inside of the fore leg. 



In many parts of the superior portions, particularly on the outside of the thighs and shoulders, 

 the dark-chestnut spots are seen to arrange themselves in rather oblique series. 



The tail is white beneath and at the extreme end. The upper portion of the tip of the tail is 

 black, in a patch not more than three-quarters of an inch square. Behind this is a mixture of 

 brown, gray, and rusty, passing gradually into the chestnut of the back. The ears are black ; 

 the central portion occupied by a grayish-white patch. 



This specimen was probably taken in summer, as shown by the extreme thinness of the hair 

 and the bright color. It is only a hunter's skin, and does not admit of being fully described. 



