422 Mr. II. Schwann on Felis ocreata. 



Mr. W. E. de Win ton, in Anderson's ' Zoology of Egypt* *, 

 has taken Meyer's Felis lybica f as representing Brace's 

 " Booted Lynx/' not liaving noticed Gmelin's earlier name. 

 It seems, however, very probable that Meyer's F. lybica is 

 applicable to some form of caracal, as the first part of the 

 description he quotes from Forster's translation of Buffon \ 

 (the original describer) runs as follows : — " Corpore rufo, 

 auriculis albis nigrobarbatis." 



The names that have been applied to this group at different 

 times are given below, with the locality where each type was 

 collected, so far as this can be ascertained with any exactness: — 



" Booted Lynx? Bruce, Travels Source of the Nile, vol. v. p. 140 (1700). 



— lias el Feel, Abyssinia. 

 Felis ocreata, Gmelin, Ank. Bruce, Beisen (Rintelo und Leipzig-), vol. ii. 



p. 27 (1791). 

 Felis cafra, Desm. Encycl. Me"th., Mamm, Suppl. p. 540 (1822). — 



" Caffraria." 

 Felis caliyata, Temm. Monogr. Mamm. uo. 4, vol. i. p. 123, 1824 (1827) 



(ex Bruce). 

 Felis maniculata, Temm. op. eit. p. 128. — Ambukol, on the Nile. 

 Felis RuppeUi, Scliinz, Cuv. Thier. vol. iv. p. 509 (1825). — Dongola. 

 Felis bubastis and F. dongolance (nom. nud.), Hemp. & Elirenb. Symb. 



rhys. dec. ii. text to pi. xvii. (1832). 

 Felis pulchella, Gray, Ckarlesw. Mag-. Nat. Hist. i. p. 577 (1837). — Egypt. 

 Felis maryarita, Loche, Bev. et Mag. Zool. p. 40 (1858). — N'gouca, 



Algerian Sahara. 

 Felis crista fa, Lataste, Faune des Vert, de Barbarie, p. 104 (1885). — 



Ilaidra. 



It appears very probable that F. pulchella ought to be 

 considered a synonym of F. maniculata, Temm., but the 

 British Museum does not at present possess sufficient North- 

 African material to settle the question definitely. 



I regard the following new forms as subspecies partly 

 because their differences from Felis ocreata are not marked 

 enough to warrant specific distinction, and also on account 

 of the great convenience the use of trinomial nomenclature is 

 in linking together the members of a widely distributed 

 group. 



Felis ocreata rubida, subsp. n. 



Resembles F. o. ocreata in general proportions, but is 

 strongly suffused with fulvous on the head, body, and feet. 

 General colour of the upper surface " hair-brown," the 



* P. 171. 



t Meyer, 'Syst Zool. Entd. Neuholland u. Afr.' p. 101 (1793). 

 J Forster, ' Ueberf. v. Buff. Naturgesch. der vierfiissigen Thiere,' B. vi. 

 p. 313 (1780). 



