JACKALS, ETC. 273 



liking for the flesh of dogs, they doubtless think 

 that they have lighted on very good quarters, but 

 it is very soon demonstrated to them that their 

 visits are by no means welcome. Fishing-cats, 

 Felis viverrina, are not uncommon in large gardens, 

 and may even become permanent residents in them. 

 This was the case with a pair who established 

 themselves in the Botanic Garden, and brought up 

 a litter of cubs in a fastness amid the crowded 

 mass of stems and epiphytes in the centre of 

 the great banyan-tree. They often are of really 

 formidable size, and at any time are uncanny- 

 looking creatures, owing to an intense malignity 

 of expression that is a true index to the savage 

 nature which renders them quite untamable even 

 when they have been caged in extreme youth. 

 The jungle-cat, F. chaus, is not very often met 

 with in the immediate neighbourhood of houses. 

 One for a time made its head-quarters beneath my 

 house in Alipur, and was a source of much interest 

 and excitement to the dogs, who were always on 

 the alert to hunt it when it ventured out from its 

 retreat. It was a handsome animal, of a pale 

 brownish-grey colour, with faintly marked bars 

 of deeper tint on the thighs and legs, and was 

 mainly distinguishable from a large domestic cat 

 by the comparative shortness of its tail. Its cry 

 was very like that of a common cat, but was often 

 prolonged into a growling note. 



