THK LYNXES. 



181 



extinct Machairodus, which may be taken as 

 the type of the carnivores in the highest 

 stage of their development. 



The lynxes, of which we are acquainted 

 with about a dozen species, are distributed 

 over the whole of the mainland of the Old 

 World, but in the New World advance 

 southwards only as far as Mexico. They 

 have not forced their way along the Isthmus 

 of Panama, and are entirely wanting in South 

 America. On the other hand, lynxes are 

 found in the burning deserts of Africa and 

 Asia, but it may probably be said that these 

 beautiful creatures thrive best in the Polar 

 regions and among the mountains of the 

 temperate zone. The Booted Lynx (L. cali- 

 gatus} of the warm regions of the Old World 

 scarcely exceeds in size our wild cat, while 

 the lynxes of the high latitudes of Norway and 

 Canada are not much inferior to the panther. 



The characters which we have mentioned 

 above are indeed always very well marked, 

 but not always developed in the same degree. 



The tail of the booted lynx is longer, its 

 legs shorter than in the other species; in its 

 general aspect it approaches more closely to 

 the felines than the others do. The fur also 

 presents certain differences with regard to 

 the development of certain parts. The winter 

 coats of the lynxes of the far north command 

 good prices. They are, indeed, somewhat 

 coarse and easily torn ; but on the other hand, 

 are thick, warm, and brightly coloured, and 

 therefore much sought after for coarse furs, 

 while those of the southern species are so 

 thinly clad with hair that they do not appear 

 in the market at all. In most cases the face 

 of the lynx is bordered by large long glossy 

 whiskers, which leave the chin free and end 

 in two points, something like the whiskers of 

 the saints in the old Byzantine pictures; but 

 it is again the northern species that have the 

 whiskers longest and bushiest. The paws 

 of the southern species are thin and narrow; 

 those of the Polar forms, on the other hand, 

 broad and powerful. 



In their general habits of life the lynxes 

 do indeed manifest the characteristic stamp 

 of the feline nature, but they, nevertheless, 

 exhibit certain peculiarities. They hunt by 

 night, and cower by day in carefully chosen 

 retreats; but they often hunt in pairs, and 

 not infrequently in more numerous bands. If 

 in some cases they confine themselves to a 

 single great leap in making an attack upon 

 an intended victim, they can nevertheless, 

 thanks to their long legs, pursue their game 

 running, and when the first leap has been a 

 failure they do not turn back ashamed, but 

 make several leaps in succession. They 

 prefer to remain within a limited district when 

 they can find enough food, go out upon their 

 hunting expeditions with great regularity, 

 and when they hunt in company follow their 

 own trail so well, each of the hinder ones 

 always treading in the footsteps of the one in 

 front, that from the track alone a hunter can 

 never tell how many of these animals have 

 passed. All the wiles of the other members 

 of the cat tribe are known to them, and they 

 also are guided by a remarkably acute sense 

 of hearing. We speak of " lynx-eyes" when 

 we mean to indicate an unusual keenness of 

 vision, but all modern observers are agreed 

 that, as regards this sense, the lynx does not 

 surpass the other members of the family to 

 which it belongs. Courageous, fierce, and 

 wily, the lynx lives at the expense of all 

 animals which it can destroy. Large game 

 is preferred to small. But necessity knows 

 no law. The northern lynxes slay the elk 

 and the stag, but do not despise either the 

 hare, the partridge, or the duck. If there is 

 excess of food they kill only to lap up the 

 blood. When we think of the ravages com- 

 mitted, for example, in the Alps, by the 

 few lynxes to be found here and there, con- 

 stantly exposed to pursuit, we might almost 

 believe that the fierce animals were driven 

 by fury and despair to manifestly useless 

 butcheries. 



The chase of the lynx is difficult and 



