441 



Iwenty-six and one-hall: pounds. Hunters and woodsmen whom 

 1 believe to be reliable, have assured me that Wildcats are 

 sometimes taken which weigh thirty -five, forty and fifty pounds 

 each. 



Habitat. — This species or its varieties occur generally 

 throughout the United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 

 Tolerably coimmon in the mountains and sparsely settled dis- 

 tricts of Pennsylvania. 



A VARIETY OF COMMON NAMES. 



The majority of hunters and woodsmeu who reside 

 in sections of Pennsylvania where the Wildcat or Bay 

 Lynx occurs, have various local names for this wary 

 and prowling animal. The appellations Bob-cat, Oata^ 

 mount, Mountain cat and Tiger cat are perhaps the 

 ones which are most frequently employed. These 

 names, or any others which may be heard, it is safe 

 to say, have reference to Lynx rufvs, which is doubt- 

 less the only species of its genus found in the State. 



During the past five years I have made very careful 

 inquiries in all sections of the Commonwealth where 

 the Canada Lynx was reported to occasionally be pre- 

 sent, and I have also examined a number of specimens 

 of what were called by the owners "Lynx canadensis," 

 but, as yet, I have not been able to discover a true ex- 

 ample of the Canada Lynx, which may be distinguished 

 from its congener, the common Wildcat, by its larger 

 size, longer hair, fuller fur, grayish, hoary color, thick, 

 heavy and clumsy legs and the large-sized feet, which 

 are so densely furred (in winter) as to cover the soles 

 or pads. The ears are also very conspicuously tufted 

 with long black hairs. 



There are, however, it is said, two or three well-au- 

 thenticated instances where specimens of the Canada 

 Lynx have been taken in Pennsylvania within the last 

 twenty-live years. Possibly future investigations will 



