THE CAT FAMILY— OUNCE. 



119 



overcome his obstinacy without ill-treating him, for 

 he did not belong to me, and I had to be careful with 

 him. I dared not even use my whip, made of the 

 hide of a Hippopotamus; it was sufficient to cow all 

 the other animals, but it was not long enough to 

 drive this one to the door of his cage. So I took a 



THE OUNCE. The animal which is shown in this picture in an attitude characteristic of the stealthy move- 

 ments of the entire family, is especially distinguished from the Leopard and Panther by its thick coat which enables 

 it to live in cool and mountainous regions. The distinct markings of the spots, small on the head and larger and 

 ring-shaped on the body, are well brought out. It is sometimes called the Snow Leopard. (Felis uncia.) 



new stable-brush and fastened it on a long pole; with 

 this he got his beating, but it did not have the desired 

 effect. Then I hit upon the plan of pouring water 

 over him, and as soon as a pail was emptied upon his 

 head or the hose was turned upon him he made for 

 his cage with all possible speed. Later on I only had 

 to show him the hose to 

 make him decamp. 



The Romans frequently 

 used Leopards and Pan- 

 thers in their amphithea- 

 tres. The latter were then 

 plentiful in Asia Minor, 

 and Scaurus sent in one 

 hundred and fifty of the 

 spotted animals. Pompey 

 sent four hundred and ten 

 and Augustus four hun- 

 dred and twenty. 



THE OUNCE. OR SNOW 

 LEOPARD. 



A large-sized Cat of cen- 

 tral Asia, the Ounce, prob- 

 ably comes nearest the 

 Leopard. The Ounce, or 

 Snow Leopard {Felts u/icia), 

 attains nearly the same 

 size as the Leopard. The 

 ground color of the skin 

 is whitish gray, the hairs 

 tipped with light yellow; 



the back, as usual in this class of felines, assumes a 

 darker tinge, the under part of the body a lighter 

 hue. The black spots are distinct; they are small 

 and full on the head, larger and ring-shaped on the 

 neck, and form large rings surrounding a dark cen- 

 ter on the body. The fur of the Ounce shows clearly 



that the animal is destined to live in colder regions 

 than the Leopard. He is indigenous to central Asia 

 as far as Siberia. A. Walter says: "He takes the 

 place of the Panther in the mountains of Turkestan, 

 and inhabits the Atlas and the South Siberian mount- 

 ains, southeastern Buchara, the Pamir, Cashmere 



and the whole of Thibet." 

 In the Himalayas he feeds 

 on wild Sheep, wild Goats, 

 rodents and birds, and also 

 kills the smaller domestic 

 animals. He is said to at- 

 tack Horses, but has never 

 been known to attack 

 Man. 



OTHER OLD WORLD 

 FELINES. 



There are still a few 

 smaller Old World Felidae 

 which deserve to be men- 

 tioned in connection with 

 the preceding group. 



The Viverrine Cat {Felis 

 viverrina) is of the same 

 size as the Wild Cat. It 

 has a gray ground color, 

 which may vary in inten- 

 sity, and is spotted with 

 black. It inhabits East 

 India, southern China and 

 the Malay Peninsula, liv- 

 ing chiefly near rivers and 

 swamps and feeding upon fish. It is said, also, to 

 attack rather large mammals, like Dogs and Sheep. 

 The majority of these Cats behave badly in captiv- 

 ity and are very difficult to tame. 



Still smaller is the Leopard-Cat {Felis bcngalensis) , 

 whose size is that of our domestic Cat. It is spread 





THE IiEOFARD CAT. Fierce, cruel and untamable, this Cat is a terror to small animals and birds in all 



parts of eastern Asia. It derives its name from the number and shape of its spots, although they are not so sharply 

 defined as those of the Leopard. It is noted for its agility in climbing, and the picture shows it in the appropriate 

 surroundings of its arboreal home. {Felis dengalensis.) 



all over eastern Asia, and enjoys the reputation of 

 being a very agile climber and an intensely cruel and 

 ferocious animal. It is said to be tamable only in 

 rare instances. 



We may regard the Serval ( Felis serval) as a con- 

 necting link between Cats and Lynxes. He is of 



