THE CAT FAMILY—LYNX. 



133 



the flock her eyes sparkled, and with cautious move- 

 ment she slowly crept toward them. The vigilant 

 descendants of Rome's rescuers grew uneasy, but the 

 Lynx was already near. With one bound she darted 

 like an arrow into the frightened assembly, but in- 

 stead of catching a Goose with each paw, as she had 

 evidently intended, she fell into the water. I gave 

 the Geese up as lost, for they stood about on the slip- 

 pery ice in utter confusion, making no effort to 

 escape, but the Lynx, dripping wet and completely 

 disconcerted, slunk away through the defenseless 

 crowd with her head lowered, evidently ashamed to 

 be seen after her failure. She hid herself and did 

 not come out again for hours." 

 Hunting the The Lynx is zealously hunted, not only 

 Lynx— Its because of the mischief he does, but be- 

 Valuable Fur. ca use of the pleasure the sport affords. 

 The fur of the Lynx is very valuable. The Scan- 

 dinavian specimens are counted among the finest 



Lynx by the short hairs of his fur, by the propor- 

 tionately very long whiskers, long ear-tufts and by 

 entirely different markings on his skin. 

 The Peshoo In North America the Peeshoo or Cana- 

 or Canadian dian Lynx (Lynxborealis) takes the place 

 Lynx. f the above named European species. 

 He is a little smaller than the European Common 

 Lynx, his length not exceeding forty-six inches. 

 His fur is shorter and thicker than that of the Eu- 

 ropean Lynx. He is spread all over those parts of 

 North America to the north of the great lakes and 

 east of the Rocky Mountains, and lives in forests 

 like the Old World Lynx. 



The Canadian Lynx is, next to the Red Lynx, the 

 most useful wild Cat of America, for his fur serves 

 a variety of purposes. Thousands of skins of this 

 species of Lynx are shipped every year to Europe, 

 where they are assorted according to their different 

 qualities and are given various names in commerce. 



THE CARACAL LYNX. This animal is the most vicious member of the Lynx group, and the picture well shows the slender body. 



long limbs, and long ear-tufts that are his prominent characteristics. He is fleet of foot, and attacks Antelopes as well as small mammals and 

 birds in the deserts and grassy plains of Africa and western Asia. (Lynx caracal.) 



and largest, and these skins command a price of 

 from twenty-five to thirty marks each. Siberia fur- 

 nishes annually about fifteen thousand, Russia and 

 Scandinavia about nine thousand Lynx furs. The 

 skins of the Lynxes of eastern Siberia are disposed 

 of exclusively in the Chinese markets and bring a 

 high price in Mongolia. 



Lynx flesh is said to be very savory. Kobell says 

 that during the Congress at Vienna, in 1814, Lynx 

 jroast frequently came on the table of Emperors, 

 and in 18 19 the King of Bavaria took a Lynx diet 

 to cure himself of vertigo. The flesh is light col- 

 ored and tender, like the best veal, and is free from 

 the disagreeable taste so often found in game. 



The In the south of Europe the genus Lynx 



Pardine is represented by the Pardine Lynx (Lynx 



Lynx. pardinus). He is much smaller than his 



northern kinsman, for his length barely reaches three 



feet. He is also distinguished from the Common 



(The Red Lynx The species of Lynx found in forests 

 or American j n the United States is the Red Lynx 

 Wild Cat. or B a y Lynx (Lynx mfus). It is pop- 

 ularly known as the Wild Cat, but is a true Lynx, with 

 the ear-tufts characteristic of that group, and differs 

 from the other members of it principally in the color 

 of its fur. It is found all over the United States, 

 from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The general color 

 is usually red, but darker, and sometimes nearly 

 black, along the backbone, while under the body it is 

 whitish and on the breast pure white. The entire 

 fur, except the breast, is covered with spots and 

 streaks of darker fur. The length of the body and 

 head is about fifty-three inches, and the tail is six 

 inches long. The color of the fur is a brighter red 

 in summer and a darker brownish red in winter. 

 Different writers have classified several species of 

 the American Lynx, including the Texas Lynx (Lynx 

 maculate), which is found in Texas and Southern Cal- 



