FAMILY PELID^:; OCELOT, WILD CAT. 213 



with equal ease ; and preys not only on the larger domestic 

 quadrupeds, and on the wild mammals, but also on birds, fish, 

 and tortoises, and on the eggs of the turtle. It will not attack 

 Man, however, unless hard pressed. Several Tiger-Cats inhabit 

 South America ; of which the Ocelot is among the most beau- 

 tiful. It is often exhibited in menageries, and is good-tempered 

 and playful if kindly used. It inhabits the deep forests, living 

 chiefly in trees, and preying upon small quadrupeds or birds, for 

 which it lies in wait, concealed under the foliage. 



190. The Wild Cat is the only species of this family that can 



FIG. 104. WILD CAT. 



be properly said to belong to our own country, the Domestic 

 Cat having been probably introduced at a very remote 

 period. In earlier times, when woods and forests covered many 

 parts of the kingdom which are now reclaimed and devoted to 

 agriculture, the Wild Cat was much more generally distributed ; 

 but it is now confined to Scotland, some of the woods in the 

 North of England, the woody mountains of Wales, and some 

 parts of Ireland. Their favourite places of resort are the most 

 inaccessible mountainous woods ; where they retreat not only to 

 hollow trees, or the depth of thickets, but to concealed fissures 

 of rocks, in which they seek their safety and repose, and bring 

 forth and rear their young. Hares, leverets, rabbits and birds 



