793 



FELID^E. 



791 



As there is some question about this species for Pennant notices 

 it as identical with the European Lynx, and M. Temminck describes 

 the species as the same in both hemispheres under the name of Fdia 

 borealig, whilst M. Geoffrey has named it as a distinct species we 

 shall give the description of Sir John Richardson, who adopts M. 

 Geoffrey's name, at length : 



" The head is round, the nose obtuse, and the face has much of the 

 form of that of the domestic cat, but the facial line is more convex 

 between the eyes. The ears are erect, triangular, and tipped by an 

 upright slender tuft of coarse black hairs ; they are placed about 

 their own breadth apart, and on their posterior surface they have a 

 dark mark beneath the tip, which is continued near both margins 

 downwards towards their bases. On the body and extremities the 

 fur is hoary, most of the hairs being tipped with white ; on the crown 

 of the head and for a broad space down the middle of the back there 

 is a considerable mixture of blackish brown, and on the sides and 

 legs of pale wood-brown. In some specimens these colours produce 

 an indistinct mottling, but in general there are no defined markings. 

 A rufous tinge is also occasionally present about the nape of the neck, 

 and on the posterior parts of the thigh. The tail is coloured like the 

 back, except the tip, which is black. The fur is close and fine on 

 the back, longer and paler on the belly. When blown aside it shows 

 on the middle of the back a dark liver-brown colour from the roots 

 to near the tip ; but on the sides it is for the greatest part of its 

 length of a pale yellowish-brown, being merely a little darker near 

 the roots. The legs are thick, the toes very thick and furry, and are 

 armed with very sharp awl-shaped white claws, shorter than the fur. 

 There are four toes on each foot, those on the hind foot being rather 

 the largest, but both feet are much spread. Length, 3 feet 1 

 inch," &c. 



Canada I.j-nx (Ftlit Canadentii). 



Sir John Richardson gives the following synonyms, &c. : Loup- 

 Cerrier (Anarisqua), Sagard. Theodat.; Loup-Cervier, or Lynx.Dobbs; 

 < '.it Lynx, Penn., ' Arct. Zool. ;' Cat, or Pishu, Hutchins ; Lynx, or 

 Wild Ott, Hearne, Mackenzie; Felii Canadmiit, Geoff., 'Ann. du 

 Mm.,' Sabine, Franklin's 'Journ.,' 'Zoological Museum/ No. 72; 

 Peeshoo, C'ree Indians and Canadian Voyagers. 



This is the only species of the genus existing north of the Great 

 Lake* and eastward of the Rocky Mountains. It is rare on the sea- 

 coast ; does not frequent the Barren Grounds ; but is not uncommon 

 in the woody districts of the interior. Found on the Mackenzie River 

 as far north as 66. (Richardson.) 



Timid, incapable of attacking any of the larger quadrupeds, this 

 animal ia well armed for the capture of the American hare, its prin- 

 cipal prey. " Its large paws, slender loins, and long but thick hind 

 legs, with large buttocks, scarcely relieved by a short thick tail, give 

 it mi awkward clumsy appearance. It makes a poor fight when it 

 ia surprised by a hunter in a tree ; for though it spits like a cat and 

 N its hair up, it it easily destroyed by a blow on the back with a 

 lender stick, and it never attacks a man. Its gait is by bounds, 

 straight forward, with the back a little arched, and lighting on all the 

 feet at once. It swims well, and will cross the arm of a lake two 

 miles wide ; but it ia not swift on land. It breeds once a year, and 

 h two young at a time." (Richardson.) 



The skin of the Canada Lynx forms a considerable article in the 



fur trade ; the annual importation by the Hudson's Bay Company is 



stated at from 7(100 to 9000. Sir John Richardson says that the natives 



eat its flesh, which is white and tender, but rather flavourless, much 



l.Iing that of the American hare. 



V. THE CATS. 



Among the smaller specie* of the great feline family our attention 



in naturally first directed towards that domestic animal which in 



in almost every house. " In this case," says the author of that 



interesting little book 'The Menageries' (London, 12mo., 1830), 

 " unlike that of the dog, there is no doubt which is the original head 

 of the domesticated stock. The wild cat of the European forests is 

 the tame cat of the European houses ; the tame cat would become 

 wild if turned into the woods ; the wild cat at some period has been 

 domesticated, and its species has been established in almost every 

 family of the old and new continent." There is good authority for 

 this assertion ; but the origin of the domestic cat has been attributed 

 to a very different source, and there are not wanting zoologists who 

 even now hold that the parent stock of that useful animal is still 

 undiscovered. 



Kuppel during his first travels in Nubia discovered a cat (Klein- 

 pfdtige Katze, Felii maniculata) of the size of a middle-sized domestic 

 cat, and one-third smaller than the European Wild-Cat (Fdis Gatus 

 ferns, Linn.). All the proportions of the limbs were on a smaller 

 scale, with the exception of the tail, which ia longer in Felts manicu- 

 lata. The woolly or ground hair is in general of a dirty ochreous, 

 darker on the back and posterior parts, and becoming gradually lighter 

 on the anterior and lateral parts ; longer hair of a swarthy dirty white, 

 so that the appearance of the animal is grayish-yellow. Skin of the 

 edges of the lips and of the nose bare and black. Beard and bristles 

 of the eyebrows shining white, brown at the roots ; edges of eyelids 

 black ; iris glaring yellow. From the inner corner near the eye there 

 is a dark-brown streak running in the direction of the nose, and there 

 is a white streak as far up as the arch of the eyebrows ; between these 

 two streaks is another grayish one extending on the forehead by the 

 side of the ears and under the eyes. Outside of the ears gray, inside 

 white, and without tufts of hair. Eight slender black undulating lines 

 arise on the forehead, run along the occiput, and are lost in the upper 

 part of the neck. Cheeks, throat, and anterior part of the neck, shining 

 white. Two ochreous-yellow lines spring, the one from the outer 

 corner of the eye, the other from the middle of the cheek, and meet 

 both together under the ear ; and two rings of the same colour 

 encircle the white neck : below the rings there are spots of ochreous- 

 yellow. Chest and belly dirty-white, with similar spots or semicircular 

 lines. A dark streak along the back becomes lighter as it rises over 

 the shoulders, and darker on the cross. This streak is gradually lost 

 on the upper part of the tail, the lower surface of which is white- 

 yellow. The tail is almost of an equal thickness, rather slender, and 

 with two dark rings at its point. The extremities, which have less 

 hair in proportion on the outer side, are of the general colour, with 

 besides five or six blackish semicircular bands on the fore legs, and 

 six distinct dark cross-streaks on the hind legs. The inner sides are 

 lighter in colour, with two black spots or streaks on the upper parts 

 of the fore legs, and the hind extremities show the cross-streaks 

 winding around the thighs towards the inside. Foot, soles, hind 

 parts of ankles, and wrists shining black. Length 2 feet 5 inches, 

 the tail being about 9 inches : height at the shoulder about 94 inches. 

 The description was taken from an aged female. M. lluppell, who 



Egyptian Cut (t'eUs maniculata). 



found this cat west of the Nile, near Ambukol, in rocky and bushy 

 regions, is of opinion that there can be no doubt that it is descended 

 from the domestic cat of the ancient Egyptians, now to be traced in 

 the cat-mummies and their representations on the monuments of 

 Thebes. In the 'Description de 1'Egypte, Hypogdes des Thebes,' 

 vol. ii. pL 45, No. 14, is the representation of a cat. Plate 51, No. 3, 

 shows a cat's mummy, and plate 54, No. 7, the skeleton of a cat's 

 mummy which in size of body, form of head, and length of tail, accords 

 perfectly with Fdis maniculata. The question then arises whether 

 this domestic cat might not have been transferred or bequeathed to 

 the contemporary civilised Europeans by the Egyptians ; and the 

 superintendents of the Frankfort collection agree that the general 



