410 



CARNIVORES. 



fur is usually some kind of grey, with a more or less brownish tinge ; the back 

 being darker and browner, and the under-parts, as usual, whitish. The spots, 

 which may be either dark brown, or of a full black colour, have no light centres, 

 and are always much longer than broad, although they are subject to considerable 

 individual variations in shape and size ; they cover the whole of the body. The 

 head is marked by a number of longitudinal stripes, starting from the forehead and 

 running to the nape of the neck ; these becoming broken up on the shoulders, but 

 reappearing along the back as a line of spots. The greyish- white cheeks are generally 

 crossed by two dark streaks ; and the limbs are usually barred and spotted, more 

 especially on their outer sides, although occasionally uniformly coloured. The tail 

 has its upper surface marked with more or less distinctly defined dark rings. 



THE FISHING-CAT ( nat. size). After Wolf. 



Altogether, the coloration of the fishing-cat reminds us of some varieties of the 

 domestic " tabby." 



A fair-sized male of the fishing-cat will have a total length of about 41 J inches, 

 of which the tail (the hair at its tip being included in the measurement) will take 

 up about 11 J inches. The height of such an animal at the shoulders will be about 

 15 inches. 



The skull of the fishing-cat may be distinguished from that of any of the species 

 yet mentioned by the circumstance that in fully adult individuals the socket of the 

 eye is completely surrounded by bone in almost all cases. In this respect the skull 

 resembles that of a monkey and differs from those of most other Carnivores, 

 although a similar feature is displayed in the skulls of some of the other small 

 Indian cats, and also in those of the ichneumons, noticed later on. We have 

 occasionally seen the skull of an adult domestic cat, in which the bony ring behind 

 the socket of the eye is almost complete. 



The geographical range of the fishing-cat extends from India to Southern 



