THE OCELOT CAT 27 



seas of the West Indies the "Vandalia" encountered 

 troops of flying fish, skimming along in the moonlight 

 like silvery birds. The ocelot was seen intently 

 watching them : one day she was missing, and it was 

 surmised that she had jumped after them and been 

 drowned. 



A female individual about six months old was 

 imported into England in 1900. The little creature 

 was as a rule tame and playful as a kitten, dashing 

 about her very roomy cage at nightfall, and inviting 

 attention by a characteristic cry ; she soon learnt to 

 come when called " Puss ! Puss! " She delighted to 

 play with a broom, grasping it and allowing herself 

 to be dragged along the floor of the cage, her talons 

 still firmly fixed in her bristly plaything. This 

 animal was fed on fowls' heads, with an occasional 

 herring. One head sufficed her for the daily meal ; 

 more seemed to make her cross-tempered. From 

 the roughness and immaturity of her coat it seemed 

 impossible to say whether this animal was an ocelot 

 or a tiger-cat ; but it may here be mentioned that in 

 captivity the two animals behave much alike. 



A tiger-cat kept many years ago at Paris delighted 

 to be stroked, and, like the individual mentioned 

 above, solicited attention by a short cry. Another 

 kept in South America by a priest named Noseda 

 was so tame as to be allowed its liberty ; it went 

 loose about the house, and slept on the skirts of his 

 clerical gown; the neighbours eventually killed it 



