PHOCA.] MAMMALIA FER^E. 15 



DESCRIPT. Hair long and bushy ; gray or brownish gray above, more 

 or less tinged with yellow; beneath paler: a longitudinal black line down 

 the middle of the back, with transverse bars of the same colour branching 

 out laterally in parallel waves and extending over the flanks, shoulders, 

 and thighs ; several narrow parallel black lines on the top of the head 

 between the ears : lips black : feet yellowish ; the soles black : tail an- 

 nulated with black ; the tip entirely of that colour ; of equal thickness 

 throughout its whole length, and as it were truncated at the extremity. 



Confined entirely to the northern parts of the island. Resides in 

 woods ; and climbs trees with great facility. Preys on birds and small 

 quadrupeds. Goes with young fifty-six days, and produces from four to 

 five at a birth. 



* 14. F. maniculata, Riipp. (Domestic Cat.) Tail relatively longer 

 than in the last species, and gradually tapering to a point. 



F. maniculata, Temm, Monog. de Mammal, torn. i. p. 128. Domestic Cat, 

 Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 82. 



DESCRIPT. Invariably smaller than the wild cat : the head larger in proportion 

 to the body ; the tail longer, more slender, and gradually terminating in a point : 

 colours extremely variable. 



I have followed Ruppel and Temminck in referring the domestic Cat to this 

 species, which in a wild state inhabits the North of Africa, where it was disco- 

 vered by the former of the two naturalists above mentioned. He supposes it to 

 have been first reclaimed by the Egyptians. 



GEN. 7. PHOCA, Linn. 



15. P. vitulina, Linn. (Common Seal.) Fur yellowish 

 gray more or less marked and spotted with brown ; whiskers 

 with the bristles undulated. 



P. vitulina, Desm. Mammal, p. 244. Flem. Brit. An. p. 17. Common 

 Seal, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 137. pi. 12. Shaw, Gen. Zool. 

 vol. i. p. 250. pi. 70. 



DIMENS. Entire length from five to six feet, sometimes more. 



DESCRIPT. Body elongated and somewhat conical, tapering gradually 

 from the breast to the tail : neck very short : head large and round : 

 muzzle broad, flat, and as it were truncated : upper lip furnished with 

 long whiskers, the bristles of which have alternate contractions and dila- 

 tations so as to appear of unequal thickness : incisors six above and four 

 below, the lower ones separated in pairs by an intermediate space; grind- 

 ers all of the false kind, on each side five above and below : no external 

 ears : feet very short ; the toes, which are five in number, enveloped in a 

 membrane ; claws very strong, larger on the hind than on the fore feet : 

 hair fine and close-set, abundant on the young: colour variable; the 

 general tint yellowish gray with different shades of brown, usually deeper 

 on the head and back than on the sides and abdomen : tail shorter than 

 the hind feet. 



