226 TYPES OF ANIMAL LIFE 



body are whitish. A few species, however, as the lion, 

 the puma, the jaguarondi, and eyra, are uniform in 

 colour. Cats never hunt in packs as dogs and wolves do, 

 and rarely pursue their prey in open ground, but spring 

 upon it from some hiding-place. They are mostly noc- 

 turnal, and the greater number, especially of the smallei- 

 kinds, habitually live in trees. The lion, the male of which 

 distinguished from all other cats by its mane, is now 

 found only in Africa, Mesopotamia, Persia, and North- 

 western India, although formerly it existed all over 

 India and in South-Western Europe, the camels of the 

 army of Xerxes having been attacked by lions in Mace- 

 donia. It frequents sandy plains and rocky places, 

 and is most active at night. As to the African lion, 

 Drummond tells us : " I once had the pleasure of, unob- 

 served myself, watching a lion family feeding. I was 

 encamped in Zululand, and toward evening, w^alking out 

 about half a mile from camp, I saw^ a herd of zebra 

 galloping across me, and when they were nearly two 

 hundred yards off I saw^ a yellow body flash toward the 

 leader, and saw him fall beneath the lion's weight. 

 There was a tall tree about sixty yards from the place, 

 and, anxious to see what went on, I stalked up to it while 

 the lion was still too much occupied to look about him, 

 and climbed up. He had by this time quite killed the 

 beautifully striped animal, but instead of proceeding to 

 eat it, he got up and roared vigorously, until theie was 

 an answer, and in a few minutes a lioness, accompanied 

 by four whelps, came trotting up in the same direction as 

 the zebra, which, no doubt, she had been driving toward 

 her husband. They formed a fine picture as they all 

 stood round the carcass, the whelps tearing it and biting 

 it; but unable to get through the tough skin. Then the 

 lion lay dow^n, and the lioness, driving her ofi'spring 



