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makes irxiirsi ons into the plains to attack clornesr 

 tic animals^ particularly horses^ whose flesh it 

 prefers to that of any other. In its mode of 

 seizing its pray it resembles the cat ; it ap- 

 proaches it by drawing itself upon its belly, 

 glides softly through the shrubs and bushes, con- 

 ceals itself in the ditches, or, if it shews itself, as- 

 sumes a mild and fawning appearance, and, 

 watching the favourable opportunity of seizing' 

 the animal which it has marked for its victim, at 

 one leap fastens itself upon its back, seizes it with 

 its left paw and teeth in such a manner as to 

 render it impossible for it to escape, while with 

 the right paw in a few minutes it tears it to 

 pieces. It then sucks the blood, devours the 

 flesh of the breast, and carries the carcass into 

 the nearest wood, where it conceals it with leaves 

 and boughs of trees, in order to eat it at its 

 leisure. 



As it is a common practice for the husband- 

 men to fasten Iwo of Ihcir horses together in the 

 flelds. whenever the P"gi fnuis them in this situa- 

 tion it kills one and drags it away, compelling 

 the other to follovv '- strkving it from time to 

 iimii with its paw, and in this manner almost al- 

 ways succeeds in getting possession of both.* 



* The ivrilf is said occasionally to adopt a sirnilar mode of 

 fanirny its prey. I have Icen assured by an intelligent 

 foreign -r, that it is not iinfrequent in France for that animal, 

 V hijri 'Jic presence of the shepherd, or any other circu-nistance. 



