TIGER. 



373 



close our notice of what is, in our own opinion, the grandest of all Carnivores, with 

 the following extract from Mr. Druinmond's interesting book, upon which we have 

 already drawn so largely. "Perhaps the most beautiful sight that I ever saw in 

 connection with lions," writes Mr. Drummond, " was on a morning when I had gone 

 out to hunt with one bearer at dawn. I had got far from camp, and, most care- 

 lessly, my gun was still unloaded, while I was examining some buffalo spoors, when, 

 on looking up, I saw my gun-bearer, who had my cartridges, running away at full 

 speed. Knowing that he must have seen something to frighten him so, I did not 

 shout, but went to where he had been standing a few yards ahead, and there, sure 

 enough, not twenty yards off, were a pair of lions. They were both full grown, 

 and the male had an immense mane, and formed altogether as handsome a pair as I 

 ever saw. The lioness was rolling on her back, playfully striking at her lord and 

 master with her fore-paws just like a kitten, while he stood gravely and majestically 

 looking on." 





THE TIGER AND THE TIGRESS. 



THE TIGER (Felis tigris). 



Whether the lion or the tiger is the more powerful animal, is a question which 

 has given rise to much discussion, but, as we have already mentioned, the opinion 

 of one most competent to decide is in favour of the superiority in this respect of 

 the latter. The absence of the mane, which forms such a striking feature in the 

 male lion, renders, however, the appearance of the tiger decidedly less imposing, 

 and hence the second position in the series is commonly assigned to this " cat." 



In spite of the difference in coloration, the lion and the tiger are very closely 

 allied animals, both agreeing in having a circular aperture for the pupil of the 

 eye, and also in regard to the characters of the so-called hyoid bones which support 

 the tongue. 



