744 



CAT. 



grown, is about two feet, and the length of the tail, 

 and also the height of the animal, about nine inches. 

 This species is entirely a forest animal, and very 

 abundant, resembling in its habits our wild cat, as 

 nearly as a tropical animal can be supposed to resem- 

 ble one of temperate climates. It forms its den in 

 hollow trees, where it remains inactive and silent 

 during the day, but at night it is exceedingly active, 

 committing extensive depredations among birds and 

 the smaller mammalia. It seems, indeed, to be one 

 of the most voracious feeders in the whole genus ; 

 and is not so delicate in its feeding as some of the 

 others, as it eats carrion greedily when recent food 

 cannot be obtained. It is a fierce animal, quite un- 

 tameable, according to the accounts, and at the same 

 time very bold and daring in its manners, invading 

 the poultry yards of the natives with equal boldness 

 and dexterity. Indeed, in its native woods, the 

 perching gallinidae form no inconsiderable portion of 

 the prey of this animal ; and they breed so fast as to 

 afford it a very ample supply. 



The Sumatra Cat. It does not appear that this 

 species differs in any matprial degree from the former ; 

 only it is said that the ground colour on the upper 

 part is yellower, the spots larger, blacker, and more 

 irregular ; and that the animal is found nearer to the 

 water. 



Diard's Java Cat. This species, if distinct species 

 it be, was discovered in the forests of Java by the 

 naturalist whose name it bears. It is described as 

 being larger than the other, being 'about three feet 

 long, exclusive of the tail, and standing a foot and a 

 half high from the shoulder. It is greyish yellow on 

 the upper part, with distinct black spots which form 

 longitudinal rows ; and on the flanks these spots are 

 annulated, black, with grey centres. The tail is 

 annulated, or perhaps rather clouded with grey and 

 black. It is not so common as the species formerly 

 mentioned. 



There are some species or varieties of cats in the 

 central mountains of Asia, to the northward of India, 

 with whose appearance and manners we are little 

 acquainted ; and the few notices which have been 

 given of them are so indefinite, as to render it unne- 

 cessary to refer to them here. 



It must be borne in mind, that there are difficulties 

 attending the natural history of this part of the world, 

 which render it somewhat difficult to decide between 

 what are really natural productions, and have re- 

 mained in that state from the beginning, and what 

 are productions once domesticated or cultivated, which 

 have lapsed into a wild state, in the various changes 

 and revolutions which that part of the world has 

 undergone. 



To the northward of these central mountains we 

 may expect a change in the animals of this genus, 

 corresponding to that which occurs in the general 

 physical circumstances of the country. In conse- 

 quence of the drought, the summer there is nearly as 

 warm as in India, at least the more elevated and 

 northerly parts ; but the winter is very cold, colder 

 indeed than in Europe under the same parallel of 

 latitude. The coverings of animals undergo changes, 

 adapting them to these extremes of temperature. It 

 consists of two sorts of hair or fur ; a close and woolly 

 one. more or less frizzled according to the species of 

 animal, and one consisting of longer and straighter 

 hairs, which serve to throw off the snow, while the 

 under fur protects the animal from the cold. There 



is only one well ascertained species of cat which in- 

 habits this part of the world ; and it is found in the 

 mountains which skirt the southern boundary of 

 Siberia, and eastward along Chinese Tartary. This 

 species is 



The Mamd (Fclis manul of Pallas). This species 

 is in its covering, and several other of its characters, 

 intermediate between the cats, properly so called, 

 and the lynxes, but its tail is much longer than that 

 of the lynx, and its ears are not pencillated, that is, 

 they do not terminate in a pointed brush of hairs. 

 There is one variety of the lynx, a red one, with very 

 obscure spots, to which this animal bears no incon- 

 siderable resemblance ; but the tail of the manul is 

 long and bushy like that of the fox, and marked with 

 about nine rings of black. The general colour on 

 the upper part is reddish-yellow, fading into whitish 

 on the under part ; this colour is nearly uniform and 

 entire; but the forehead and top of the head are 

 mottled with small black spots. The winter fur all 

 over the body is nearly two inches in length, but it 

 is cast as the warm weather sets in ; and toward the 

 latter end of summer, when the new fur is rather less 

 than an inch in length ; the skin is highly prized by 

 the furriers. The muzzle is very short, and the 

 animal is said to possess one tearing tooth fewer than 

 the typical cats ; but still it belongs to the genus 

 Felis, and not to any other. 



In its general habits it differs from all its conge- 

 ners, being found in bleak and exposed places, 

 generally among the rocks, where it seeks its food 

 by chase rather than stratagem. That food consists 

 chiefly of hares and other rodent animals, which 

 abound very much in these wild places ; but, true to 

 the habit of the 'genus, it preys during the night, and 

 most likely catches these animals when squatting on 

 their forms. It does not climb trees or enter the 

 forests ; and, according to all the accounts which we 

 have of it, it differs greatly from the rest of the genus. 

 There are, however, many particulars to be ascer- 

 tained before we can speak decidedly respecting 

 either its natural histon r , or the natural history of the 

 very peculiar district which it inhabits. We may, 

 perhaps, at some future period, be able to establish 

 this, and one or two animals of similar places, of which 

 the indications are exceedingly vague, into a separate 

 group or sub-genus ; but at present the data which 

 we possess are too scanty for this purpose, and we 

 must therefore describe the manul as a cat, interme- 

 diate between the southern cats and the northern 

 lynxes, but combining with the characters of these 

 some at least of the habits of the fox. 



LYNXES. These animals form a tolerably distinct 

 group, of which the most remarkable characters are 

 the fur very long, the ears pencillated, and the tail 

 short. They are bold and fierce animals, though 

 without the savage character which marks the more 

 powerful cats of warm climates. 



Barbary Lynx, or caracal. This species is found 

 in northern Africa, and south-western Asia, at least 

 as far to the east as Persia. Its colour is uniform 

 venous red ; the ears are white within, but black on 

 the outside, and they stand up conspicuously. It is 

 on this account that it is called " caracal," which is 

 the Turkish for black ear. Its length is the head 

 five inches, the body two feet, and the tail about six 

 inches ; and it stands about a foot and a half high at 

 the shoulder. This is the species which borders most 

 nearly on the manul, and the one with which that 



