36 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS 



It used often to lie in Mdlle. Loche's lap; one day 

 when she wished to put it down the spoilt thing 

 resented it and, turning savagely on her, seized her 

 arm with claws and teeth. Happily the Commandant 

 was at hand to intervene, or the consequences might 

 have been serious. Loche records a male caracal 

 from Barkadem, a female from Arba, and a young 

 one (sex not stated) from near Djelfa; these were all 

 placed in the museum at Algiers. He also gives 

 Colea, Biskra, Lake Halloula, and the vicinity of 

 Constantine as localities for the Algerian caracal. 



The first specimen received into the Regent's 

 Park collection seems to have been the individual 

 which the Duke of Sussex presented in 1830. 

 Apparently the caracal must be taken young in order 

 to be tamed; the writer has seen some dozen 

 specimens, all either nervous, or savage, or both, 

 hissing loudly or growling with open mouth 

 (see illustration). Frequently pacing its cage in 

 the daytime, the caracal is not noticeably active at 

 dusk; several kept captive in their native India 

 were noticed to be asleep in the evening, when other 

 cats in the same collection were awake and lively. 

 Those in the Calcutta Gardens were fed on live fowls, 

 pigeons, and rabbits; a natural though somewhat 

 expensive diet. 



