THE PUMA. 57 



some parts of Asia, aud specimens of this fine animal have been 

 brought from the shores of the Persian Gulf In size it equals the or- 

 dinary leopard of Asia or Africa. 



Passing to the New World, we find the feline races well represented 

 by several most beautiful and graceful creatures, of which the Jaguar 

 is the largest and most magnificent example. 



Closely resembling the Leopard in external appearance and in its 

 arboreal habits, it seems to play the same part in America as the 

 leopard in the Transatlantic continents. It is a larger animal than 

 the leopard, and may be distinguished from that animal by several 

 characteristic differences. 



In the first place, across the breast of the Jaguar are drawn two or 

 three bold black streaks, which are never seen in the leopard, and 

 which alone serve as an easy guide to the species. But the chief 

 point of distinction is found in a small mark that exists in the centre 

 of the dark spots which cover the body and sides. In many instances 

 this central mark is double, and, in order to give room for it, the 

 rosettes are very large in proportion to those of the leopard. Along 

 the spine runs a line, or chain, of black spots and dashes, extending 

 from the back of the head to the first foot or eighteen inches of the 

 tail. 



In its native land the Jaguar ranges the dense and perfumed forests 

 in search of the various creatures which fall victims to its powerful 

 claws. The list of animals that compose its bill of fare is a large and 

 comprehensive one, including horses, deer, monkeys, capybaras, tapirs, 

 birds of various kinds, turtles, lizards, and fish, thus comprising exam- 

 ples of all the four orders of vertebrated animals. Nor does the Jaguar 

 confine itself to the vertebrates. Various shell-fish, insects, and other 

 creatures fall victims to the insatiate appetite of this ravenous animal. 



It seems strange that such powerful creatures as horses should be 

 reckoned among the prey of the Jaguar, for it would seem unlikely 

 that the muscular force of the animal could be equal to the task of 

 destroying and carrying away so large a quadruped as a horse. Yet 

 such is truly the case; and the Jaguars commit infinite havoc among 

 the horses that band together in large herds on the plains of Paraguay. 

 A Jaguar has been known to swim across a wide river, to kill a horse, 

 to drag it for some sixty yards to the waterside, to plunge with it into 

 the stream, to swim across the river with its prey, to drag it out of the 

 water after reaching the opposite bank, and finally to carry it off into 

 a neighboring wood. 



The favorite food of the Jaguar — when he can get it — is the flesh 

 of the various monkeys. But to catch a monkey is not the easiest task 

 in the world, and in general can only be achieved by leaping upon the 

 prey from a place of concealment, or by surprising the monkeys while 



