CAT. 



741 



numbers ; and in remote places it sometimes plunders 

 poultry yards, but only during the night. In its 

 native places, and especially about nightfal, it is a 

 very bold animal, and not very apt to retire at the 

 approach of man. On the other hand it stands in a 

 menacing attitude, and with its eyes glaring in a very 

 formidable manner. It dues not attack ; but if at- 

 tacked and slightly wounded, it is apt to spring upon 

 the assailant, and* bite and scratch in a very serious 

 manner It may now be regarded as the most power- 

 ful of the wild mammalia of Britain. 



The wildcat is never met with in bleak or exposed 

 places, but always in brakes and copses, and in them 

 rather than in the extensive forests of tall trees. 

 Hunting in these is not very well adapted for them, 

 as the birds, which would have to be the chief part 

 of their food there, are rather too high fora wild cat's 

 hunting: they lie in wait upon the ground, or only 

 in the lower branches and sprays. During the greater 

 part of the day they are in a state of repose, but they 

 become very active about nightfal ; and in places 

 where they are abundant they keep up a very dis- 

 agreeable yelling during the greater part of the night. 

 They set up a loud cry when they are alarmed, but it 

 is probable that the most offensive of their nocturnal 

 music is, as is the case with the domestic cat, their 

 love song. It is possible that, where their haunts 

 are near houses, they may produce hybrids with the 

 females of the domestic race ; but they are said to 

 attack the males with much determination. When 

 hungry or irritated they are very bold in their attacks, 

 though they always spring, and use their claws very 

 effectively. In defence of their young, the females 

 show the same boldness, and follow the captors of 

 them with almost as much resolution, as the tigress 

 herself. 



OCELOT (Felis ocelot}. This is the name of a 

 numerous, but not very well defined, group of cats of 

 middle size, that is to say, intermediate between the 

 lions, tigers, and other large and formidable species 

 already noticed, and the wild and domestic cats. 

 There is one circumstance attending the gradations 

 in size of these animals, which is worthy of notice : in 

 proportion as they arc smaller, the tail is larger and 

 covered with longer fur. The group now under con- 

 sideration (we call them a group only because their 

 history is not well known) are all inhabitants of 

 central America, but generally of more upland places 

 than the jaguar and the puma. They are mountain 

 cats, or rather hill cats, but still they are found in 

 the woods, not in the open places, the lion is per- 

 haps more in the open wilds than any of the tribe, 

 and even he generally crouches and lurks in thickets. 



The animals now under notice may, perhaps, be 

 considered as the American branch of an exceedingly 

 numerous family, which are found in Africa and 

 Southern Asia, as well as in America ; but there are 

 differences in the general appearance of those of each 

 of the three localities. The American species, or 

 ocelots as they are called, are the more handsome of 

 the whole ; they are " clean made" animals, light and 

 well proportioned in all their parts; their legs are 

 rather long, and their tails peculiarly handsome. They 

 pace along with the same long step and majestic 

 tread as the tiger ; and though, from their compara- 

 tively thicker fur, the working of their muscles is not 

 so well seen, yet, colour excepted, they bear no in- 

 considerable resemblance to tigers in miniature. 



These animals are, in general, rust coloured and 



white in the ground of the fur, the former being 

 chiefly on the head and along the shoulders and 

 flanks, while the latter occupies all the under part, 

 and a greater or smaller portion of the back. The 

 markings consist of stripes and spots of black; the 

 stripes are longitudinal, only, in general, inclining 

 downwards a little towards the flanks. There are 

 also longitudinal streaks of black on the top of the 

 head, the cheeks behind the eyes, and the sides of 

 the neck; but the fore-legs from the shoulder, the 

 belly, the hind legs from the insertion of the tail, 

 and the tail itself, are spotted with black. The 

 stripes on the back are also interspersed with spots, 

 and they very generally have oblong spots or darker 

 down the margins and sometimes the middle of the 

 stripes. Some of them have the tails annulated. 

 There are, however, so many diversities of colour 

 among them that a minute description, even of one, 

 would be inconsistent with the nature of this work, 

 and, indeed, of but little value in any work, because 

 it is highly probable, that in animals which have their 

 colour so much broken, no two individuals are alike. 

 We shall mention one or two of the American ones 

 which have been described as species or varieties. 



Paraguay Ocelot. This is the Clnbi-goiiazou of 

 D'Azzara; and though not probably confined to Para- 

 guay, it is very plentiful there. It is two feet and a 

 half long in the body, with the tail one foot three, 

 and the height the same as the length of the tail ; so 

 that it is smaller than many specimens of our wild 

 cat. It is, however, a much more handsome animal ; 

 walks more lithely, seems bolder, and has much more 

 the air and the voice of the larger beasts of prey. It is 

 a retired animal, living in the thick bushes, and not 

 stirring out save during the night, at which time it is 

 very ferocious in proportion to its size. These 

 animals live generally in pairs. Perhaps this is the 

 most beautifully marked of all the American tiger 

 cats. The strokes are continuous along the sides and 

 flanks, and finely interspersed and mottled with spots. 



Mexican Ocelot. This is said to be smaller than 

 the former, but to have even more of the tiger appear- 

 ance. The colours are nearly the same, only there is 

 a reddish ash instead of the rust colour. The stripes 

 are shorter than in the former, and interrupted. It 

 is found in Mexico, and on the whole of that part of 

 America which lies to the west of the Carribbean Sea. 

 There are said to be two varieties, one on the table 

 land, and another on the tierras calientes by the sea; 

 but as these are said to be similar varieties of that 

 which has been described in Paraguay, it is probable 

 that the whole form only a single species, which is 

 broken down into many climatal varieties. 



The linked Ocelot (so called because the stripes 

 upon it are chain-like) is smaller than any of those 

 already mentioned, and shorter on the legs. The 

 upper part is dull yellowish, darker on the sides of 

 the head ; and the under part is white. There are 

 irregular chain-stripes along the sides, which are con- 

 tinued in lines upon the legs. The tail is clouded 

 rather than annulated. This variety or species is 

 said to mew like a cat, but its habits are little known ; 

 and, as remarked in a former part of this article, do- 

 mestic cats are apt to escape to the forests in the 

 wanner parts of America. This fact, by the way, 

 throws some light upon the disputed question of the 

 original race of the domestic cat, and affords at least 

 a strong presumption that it is not the wild cat of 

 Europe ; and when we take the structural difference 



