404 



THE CAT. 



[CHAP. xii. 



tipper lip to a dark transverse throat-band ; and two similar trans- 

 verse bands run across the breast, with a row of spots between ; tail 

 spotted above, indistinctly ringed towards the tip ; the inside of the 

 arm has two broad bands, and the soles of all the feet are dark 

 brown. There is generally a small white superciliary line. I have 

 noticed in several specimens in the British Museum, that the black 

 spots unite or tend to unite over the shoulders, so as to make a 

 conspicuous oval black ring, not unlike the " Vesica piscis." This 

 is not, however, always to be detected. 



There is in the National Collection a skin * which came from 

 the Indian Museum, and which differs considerably from all the 

 specimens of F. bengalensis that I have seen, in its redder colour, 

 more woolly hair, and thicker tail, as also in the less distinctness of 

 its markings. It is not however in very good condition. It is said 

 to have been brought from Nepal by Mr. B. H. Hodgson. The 

 length of the head and body is twenty-two and a half inches ; that 

 of the tail is sixteen inches. 



A first upper premolar tooth is present, but it is very small. 

 The orbit is nearly encircled by bone. The post-orbital process of 

 the frontal of the specimen figured has been unfortunately broken. 

 F. bengalensis inhabits Nepal, Thibet, Darjeeling, Assam, Burmah, 

 the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Java. 



(13.) THE WAGATI (Felis Wagati). 



The cat in the British Museum which is thus named, is very like 

 F. bengalensis ; but it is a smaller animal, and its black markings 

 are more sharply defined and decidedly in the form of short black 

 stripes. The animal also has not the small spots on the flanks 

 which exist in F. bengalemis, and the stripes on the shoulders are 

 nearly parallel and do not tend to form an oval ring. It has been 

 described by Dr. Gray as follows : " Fur fulvous ; nose, chin, throat, 

 and underside of body, and streak on forehead and cheek, pale 

 yellow. Spots of body few, large, irregularly shaped ; of withers, 

 large, elongate, broad ; of loins, elongate, narrow, more or less con- 

 fluent ; tail with round spots." 



Length of head and body, twenty-one and a half inches. 



Length of tail, eleven inches. 



Habitat, India. 



(14.) THE MARBLED TIGER-CAT (Felis marmorata).\ 



This cat attains a size of from nineteen to twenty-three inches 

 from snout to tail, the tail itself being about fifteen inches. It is a 

 very distinct species. 



* Skin No. 79. 11. 25. 563. It is Gray, Pro. Zool. Soc., 1856, p. 396 ; and 



labelled F. Duvancelli. Catolynx Charltoni, Pro. Zool. Soc., 



t Catolynx marmorahis, Gray, Pro. 1867, p. 268, and Cat. of Garni vora, 



Zool. Soc., 1867, p. 267 ; Fclis CkarUoni, p. 16. 



