72 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



at same time they are furnished with organs which 

 assist in their self-preservation. We find some, 

 therefore, supplied with wings for flight, by which 

 they can pursue a prey which have similar powers of 

 locomotion ; others, again, are swift of foot, and 

 where this power is granted in a less degree, its place 

 is supplied by a sense of smelling the most exquisite, 

 which leads them to their victim, when every other 

 power would be unavailing. The Felinae are endow- 

 ed with none of these means, but their dispositions 

 are cunning and watchful, and they possess a delicate 

 hearing and piercing sight ; and, in combination with 

 these faculties, their strong forms and powerful 

 weapons of offence, render them terrible foes to the 

 animal kingdom. The combination of their struc- 

 ture is expressed in their countenance, and has 

 gained for them the appellation of ferocious, cruel, 

 malignant, and bloodthirsty ; and an old poet tells 

 us 



" Caedem oculis, caedem et vultu, csedemet ore minantur." 

 In hunting their prey, the endowments we have 

 mentioned are employed with great address. Morn- 

 ing and evening are the times when it is chiefly 

 sought, and it is either crept upon by stealth, or lain 

 in wait for. Near to the passes in the thick forests, 

 the edges of the jungle, the banks of the springs 

 and rivers, where the beasts daily seek for water, 

 are situations favourable for the exercise of their 

 perfidious ambuscade ; when the prey approaches, 

 the animal gathers his strength for the spring, and 



