26*2 



THE EUROPEAN LYNX- 



Felis lynx LIN?.-LJ&. 



PLATE XXXIV. 



Felis lynx, Linnceus, Temminck^ Monographies^ p. 111. 

 Desmarest) Mammaloyie, p. 223 Le Lynx, Buffon, ir. 

 pi. xxi. 



THE Common Lynx is extensively spread over the 

 aouth of Europe, the numbers decreasing as the nor- 

 thern districts are approached, and increasing as it 

 reaches the borders of Asia, which it also abundant- 

 ly inhabits. It has been occasionally found in France, 

 which may be termed its most northern range. Like 

 the cat, it is subject to very considerable variety of 

 marking and colour, and the characters of the fur of 

 the adult may be said to be scarcely fixed. It is 

 this species and the last that principally furnish the 

 immense quantities of furs that are known under the 

 name of lynx. The fur becomes much longer in 

 winter, and in the colder climates it probably is 

 much more ample than in those specimens which 

 are brought from the warmer regions bordering up- 

 on Asia, which have the fur much finer in its tex- 

 ture. The most ordinary tint of the upper parts is 

 a dull reddish-grey, marked upon the sides with ob- 



