80 WILD BEASTS OF THE WORLD 



But the Wild Cat of Europe and Western Asia, although now nearly extinct in 

 these islands, and only lingering in the Western Highlands, deserves notice. It 

 is rather larger and more powerful than any tame Cat, and has thick close fur, the 

 length of which makes the tail appear blunt and round at the tip instead of pointed. 

 The colour is just like that of some tame Cats, a rusty grey with dark streaks 

 down the sides and face, and a ringed tail ; in fact, it is a poorly-marked, un- 

 attractive, striped tabby. Its expression is surly and ferocious, and its disposition 

 corresponding; it is a deadly enemy to all furred and feathered game, and will 

 attack poultry and lambs, while when cornered it is a dangerous antagonist even 

 to man. It usually frequents mountain forests, where it makes night hideous at 

 times with its dreary caterwaulings. None of the Cats are so untameable as this 

 apparently, even the Tiger being docile and contented in comparison, judging 

 from those usually on view at the Zoo. It is therefore not surprising to find that 

 our tame Cats appear to be the descendant of another species, although a closely 

 allied one, the Wild Cat of Africa (Felis maniculata). This animal, although 

 generally less fully striped than English Cats, is practically indistinguishable from 

 the more uniform-coloured specimens one often sees in India, and would not be 

 noticed as anything peculiar if seen roaming about our streets. 



It was apparently domesticated first by the ancient Egyptians, and seems not 

 to have reached Europe till only a few centuries before the Christian era, as the 

 Greeks employed the Beech-Marten (Mustela foina) as the domestic mouser. 

 The Tame Cat was evidently, judging from the laws for its protection, a scarce 

 and valued animal in Britain at the time of the Conquest, when the Wild Cat was 

 still common in the South. There has probably been some crossing between 

 the two, and a kitten bred in the Zoological Gardens between a male Wild Cat 

 from Scotland and an African female, was well striped and just like an ordinary 

 tame kitten, though showing a ferocious temper; this, however, my pet Serval 

 did at first. There seems to be no reason to suppose that the variously coloured 

 coat or long fur of some domestic Cats are due to anything else than ordinary 

 variation, and, indeed, the Cat has varied less than most animals which have been 

 as long under human protection no doubt because, until of late years, it has not 

 been selectively bred. 



