208 THE OCELOT. 



zil, Guiana, and Surinam. It inhabits the forests, 

 and climbs trees expertly in search of prey, which 

 consists of birds and small animals. 



The subject of our first illustration of the ocelot 

 is copied from Mr Wilson's plate. The original was 

 a painting by Mosses of Liverpool, in the possession 

 of Dr Traill. It was a female, and measured, ex- 

 clusive of the tail, about 2 feet 9J inches, the tail 

 1 1-| inches. " The upper part of the head is deep 

 tawny, streaked with blackish-brown. A black- 

 ish streak passes from the upper and inner canthus 

 of each eye to the forehead, between the ears, in a 

 converging manner ; and between them there are se- 

 veral delicate lines of the same colour. Another 

 strongly expressed stripe passes from the outer can- 

 thus of the eyes to the angles of the lower jaw, 

 where an irregular blackish bar passes upwards, to 

 within an inch of the outer edge of the ears. From 

 the angles of the jaw, two stripes pass downwards, 

 and meet in front of the throat. The ears are thin, 

 and blackish externally, with a spot of pure white 

 on the back of each. There is a patch of pure white 

 at the angles of the mouth, beautifully speckled with 

 three rows of black dots, which lie at the roots of 

 the vibrissae ; chin and throat white, with blackish 

 bars ^ the ground-colour of the breast less pure ; that 

 of the belly and insides of the legs dull grey. Around 

 the eye are white marks, nearly inclosing the orbit, 

 but interrupted by the blackish stripes above de- 

 scribed There are four chains of open lengthened 



