THE PUMA, OR AMERICAN LION. 125 



elusion, that one alone was found ** There are 

 some much smaller animals, of a colour and form 

 closely resembling the puma, which could scarcely 

 be confounded with it. These we shall notice un- 

 der the description of the next plate. 



The total length of the body of the adult puma is 

 from four feet to four feet and a half, that of the tail 

 from two to two feet and a half. The females are 

 somewhat less. The fur is thick and close, above 

 of a reddish-brown, approaching nearly to the colour 

 of a fox on the bark. It lightens on the outsides 

 of the limbs and on the flanks, and upon the belly 

 becomes of a pale reddish-white. The muzzle, chin, 

 throat, and insides of the legs, are greyish-white, and 

 on the breast the colour becomes more marked, and 

 is almost pure white. The part from which the 

 whiskers spring, and the lips and back of the ears, 

 are black ; the whiskers themselves white. On the 

 face and flanks of the animal from which our repre- 

 sentation was taken there were a few indications of 

 stripes or brindling. When the animal arrives at 

 maturity, these are lost, and the colour becomes en- 

 tirely uniform, except where it shades into a paler 

 tint. 



In still younger animals *, the back is marked with 

 three chains of blackish-brown spots, besides scat- 

 tered markings on the sides, neck, and shoulders ; 



* Annales du Museum, xiv. p. 142, 



