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THE WILD CAT*. 



WILD Cats are exceedingly ferocious animals. 

 They inhabit extensive woods in most parts of 

 Europe ; and were formerly very common in many 

 of the counties of England. By a charter granted 

 in the reign of king Richard the First, to the abbot 

 and convent of Peterborough, liberty is given to 

 hunt, in Northamptonshire, the Hare, the Fox, and 

 the Wild Catf. There were Wild Cats in several 

 of the woods of Northamptonshire so lately as a 

 century ago; but they are now all destroyed. 

 Indeed, the extended population of England dur- 

 ing the last century, and the consequent destruc- 

 tion of forests, and the inclosure and cultivation 

 of waste lands, have nearly extirpated the race 

 from all the counties. 



Several of the mountainous districts of Ireland 

 and Scotland, however, yet contain Wild Cats in 

 considerable numbers. They are also occasionally 

 found amongst the woods that border the lakes of 



* Felis catus ferus. Linnceus. Le Chat sauvage. Buffbn. 

 For the description of the Wild Cat, see the Synopsis, p. 24, 

 No. 11, VAR. I. 



t Morton's History of Northumberland, p. 443. 



Westmorland 



