22 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS 



Typica." It is significant of the great instability of 

 these animals, that the very individual figured 

 altered a good deal in its markings before its death ; 

 hence the ocelot, if not the leopard, changes its spots! 



(b) DIMINUTION OF COLOUR is similarly illustrated 

 by the var. picta the "painted ocelot" of natural 

 history books which is a large Central American 

 form. In this phase the spots are placed relatively 

 further apart, and the ground tint is not so brilliant 

 as in the typical race. The grey ocelots may 

 perhaps be included under this heading; of these, the 

 best known is the var. grisea, which sometimes 

 tends to whitish on the flanks, and is found in 

 Guatemala. 



The difficulty of sorting these various cats is not 

 lessened by the presence, in the actual distributional 

 area of the ocelot, of a similar though distinct 

 species, the tiger cat (Felis tigrina). This animal 

 also varies greatly, having a bright fulvous variety 

 (the chati) with soft fur, and a dull grey one (the 

 margay) with harsh fur; the Brazilian kuichua (var. 

 macroura of Prince Maximilian of Wied) is a yellow 

 phase with a relatively long tail. In the writer's 

 opinion the term "tiger-cat" is most unfortunate as 

 applied to the Felis tigrina, a fine beast enough but 

 in beauty far inferior to the handsome ocelot, 

 especially the fulvous variety striking in its rich coat 

 and sable liturse. Felis tigrina might have suitably 

 been styled the " leopard cat" had not that term 



