58 CARNIVORA. 



been accustomed to consider them. They have a small horny 

 prickle, or hook, fastened to the skin and concealed in the 

 tassel at the end of the tail. It is easily detached, and its use is 

 still unknown. Lions belong exclusively to the Eastern Conti- 

 nent, but the Puma is sometimes called the American Lion, and 

 as it is the largest of the Cat family on the Western Continent, 

 we shall give it a more particular notice. 



Felis Concolor. The PUMA, COUGAR, PANTHER, PAINTER, CATA- 

 MOUNT. 



This formidable animal is known under all these names in North 

 and South America. Washington Irving, (see his "Astoria,") men- 

 tions it as seen at the mouth of the Columbia river. Dr. Good- 

 man gives an account of a sportsman killed by one of these ani- 

 mals in the Catskill mountains. One of them, within the recol- 

 lection of Dr. Dekay, was even seen a few miles from the city of 

 New York. This animal was, no doubt, formerly found in all 

 the Northern and Eastern States, west of the Rocky Mountains, 

 and along the borders of the Pacific. A few yet remain in the 

 less cultivated portions of the Atlantic States. In Florida and 

 Texas it is quite abundant. It is also found within the tropics 

 in Mexico and Yucatan, and has made its way through Panama 

 into Guiana and South America, where it is called the Puma, 

 and reaches its greatest size. From its likeness in other respects, 

 to the lion of the old world, it is, though maneless, sometimes 

 named the American lion. The courage of the Cougar is, how. 

 ever, not great, and unless very hungry or wounded and at bay, 

 he seldom attacks man. The body is long and slender, (five 

 feet in length and including the tail, eight ;) the legs are short 

 and stout. The general color of the Puma, when the animal is 

 mature, is silvery grey, and hence it is sometimes called the sil- 

 very lion. In the United States the general color is tawny or 

 fulvous ; the under part is reddish white. The name " cemcoZor," 

 it obtains from its uniformity of color. The tail of the male is 

 longer than that of the female, and without a tuft. The Puma 

 lives much on trees, which it climbs with great ease ; and its 

 uniform dusky fur makes it so like the bark that it is not readily 

 distinguished from the branches on which it rests. From trees, 

 it falls suddenly upon monkeys, deer, and cattle as they pass by ; 

 or it lurks among reeds and thickets by the side of rivers and 

 marshes, where it seizes the alligator as he raises his head above 

 water, or crawls out upon the bank. In Florida, the animal in- 

 habits the miry swamps and the watery everglades ; in Texas 



