FELiS. 79 



or, especially on the sides, each spot partly black and partly brown, 

 the two colours passing into each other. The fur is brown at the 

 base, and many of the fulvous hairs have white tips, producing a 

 grizzled appearance on the ground-colour. The size of the spots 

 is very variable ; they have a general tendency to a linear arrange- 

 ment, especially on the back. The limbs and underparts are all 

 spotted, the spots on the belly being as a rule, though not always, 

 well defined, and there are spots on the upper surface of the tail, 

 the lower surface of which is generally unspotted, but spots are 

 frequently met with in Himalayan and Burmese varieties. To- 

 wards the end of the tail the spots usually become small transverse 

 bars. There is almost always a white band running up to the 

 forehead from the inside of each eye. Four longitudinal black 

 bands commence on the forehead, and are continued over the head 

 to the hind neck, breaking up into short bands and elongate spots 

 on the shoulders ; less distinct bands or spots occasionally come in 

 between the two median head-stripes on the forehead and shoulders, 

 but these two stripes frequently coalesce on the back of the neck, 

 diverging again between the shoulders and being continued as rows 

 of spots to the tail. There are generally two well-marked hori- 

 zontal cheek-stripes, the lower of which is often joined to a transverse 

 stripe across the throat ; other transverse stripes, sometimes broken 

 into rows of spots, cross the lower neck and breast. There are the 

 usual two dark bands inside the forearm, and a large whitish spot 

 on the black outside surface of each ear. 



In kittens the general colour is pale brown, and the markings 

 are ill-defined. 



The coloration of this species is so variable that it is difficult 

 to give a description that is applicable to all the varieties. 



Dimensions. Head and body 24 to 26 inches, tail 11 to 12 or 

 more (Jerdon). Some varieties are considerably smaller ; a Burmese 

 specimen measured by Tickell had the above two measurements 

 only 16 and 9-5 inches. A large Nepalese skull is 3-1 inches in 

 basal length from the foramen to the premaxillaries, and 2-5 wide 

 across the zygomatic arches ; whilst in the small Burmese variety 

 (F. watjati of Gray) the length and breadth of a skull similarly 

 measured are only 2-7 and 2-1 inches. 



Distribution. The leopard cat is common in the Himalayas as 

 far west as Simla, in Lower Bengal, Assam, the Burmese and 

 Malayan countries, Southern China, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and 

 the Philippines. It is also found in the Syhadri Range or Western 

 Ghats of India, Coorg, Wynaad, Travancore, &c., and in some, per- 

 haps all, of the other forest-regions of the peninsula, though not 

 very abundantly. I have never seen a specimen during several 

 years' wanderings in the Central Provinces and the northern part 

 of the Bombay Presidency. There is, however, a skin said to be 

 from the neighbourhood of the Coromandel coast in the Calcutta 

 Museum ; and a living specimen from Jeypore, west of Vizagapatam, 

 was quite recently given to the Zoological Gardens in London by 

 Mr. G. T. Egan. According to Jerdon F. benyalensis is also found 



