HUNTING-LEOPARD. 



443 



long, being equal to more than half the length of the head and body. The skull 

 is characterised by the extreme elevation of the crown, as well as by the shortness 

 of its facial portion; in both of which respects it resembles that of the snow- 

 leopard. The first of the three upper premolar teeth is unusually small. 



In colour the fur of the hunting-leopard varies from tawny to a bright rufous 

 fawn tint, becoming paler on the under-parts. On this ground-colour black spots 

 are distributed over almost the whole of the animal, with the exception of the 



THE HUNTING LEOPARD (* nat. size). 



buff-coloured chin and throat ; these spots being round, without any light-coloured 

 centres, and not arranged either in rosettes or in lines. The head is marked by 

 one black stripe running from the front corner of the eye to the upper lip, and 

 sometimes by another from the hinder part of the eye to the ear. The ears are 

 black on the outer surface, but tawny on the margins and at the base. On the 

 tail the spots are confined to the upper surface, but towards the tip they tend to 

 form incomplete rings. Such is the coloration of the adult of this animal. In 

 the young cubs, however, the fur is very long especially on the back and of a 

 uniform grey tint, without any trace of spots ; but it is stated, that if a cub in 



