WILD CAT. 189 



insidious disposition, and capability of performing 

 extraordinary bounds, render them pre-eminently 

 destructive, and afford the characters which dis- 

 tinguish the Felina or Cat tribe. The Lion, the 

 Tiger, the Jaguar, the Puma, the Panther, and the 

 Leopard, which are confined to the warmer regioni 

 of the globe, exhibit the sanguinary nature of this 

 tribe in a higher degree than the Lynxes and Cats, 

 only because they are superior in size, for the species 

 which exists in Britain is not less predaceous in 

 proportion to its bulk. This animal, which is much 

 larger than the domestic Cat, is now seldom met 

 with, having been destroyed in all the populous 

 districts, and is confined to part of Wales, the 

 mountainous districts of the North of England, the 

 Highlands of Scotland, and some portions of Ire- 

 land, where it resides in the woods and thickets, 

 generally taking up its abode in the fissures of rocks,, 

 or in the cavities between blocks of stone. 



In its aspect, form, and colouring, the Wild Cat 

 closely resembles large individuals of the domestic 

 race, and of the grey striped or tabby variety, but 

 differs in having the body more elongated, the limb* 

 also longer, the fur more copious, and the tail con- 

 sequently thicker. Its head is short, broad, convex 

 above, anteriorly of a somewhat triangular form; 

 the snout small ; the nostrils rather small and linear; 

 the eyes large ; as are the ears, which are ovate 

 erect, and somewhat pointed. The mouth is rathe! 

 small, opening to beneath the posterior angle of the 

 eye. The palate is marked with eight transverse 



