THE VIVERKINE CAT, 



53 



THE MARBLED TIGER-CAT.* 



" This prettily -marked Wild Cat (see previous page) has been found in the Sikkim Himalayas, 

 in the hilly regions of Assam, Burmah, and Malaysia, extending into the islands of Java, at all 

 events." The head and body together are from eighteen and a half to twenty-three inches long, the 

 tail fourteen to fifteen and a half inches. The ground-colour of its hide is of a dingy tawny, " occa- 

 sionally yellowish-grey, the body with numerous elongate wavy, black spots, somewhat clouded or 

 marbled." The tail is spotted and tipped with black, and the belly is yellowish-white. 



THE VIVERRINE CAT. f 



"This large Tiger-Cat," says Mr. Jerdon, "is found throughout Bengal, up to the first of the 

 South-eastern Himalayas, extending into Burmah, China, and Malaysia, I have not heard of its 

 Occurrence in Central India, nor in the Carnatic ; but it is tolerably common in Travancore and Ceylon, 

 extending up the Malabar coast as far as Mangalore. I have had one killed close to my house at 

 Tellicherry. In Bengal it inhabits low, watery situations chiefly, and I have often got it upon the 

 edge of swampy thickets in Purneah. It is said to be 

 common in the Terai and marshy regions at the foot 

 of the Himalayas, but apparently not extending 

 further west than Nepaul. Buchanan Hamilton 

 remarks, ' In the neighbourhood of Calcutta it would 

 seem to be common. It frequents reeds near water ; 

 and, besides fish, preys upon Ampullince, Unios (shell- 

 fish), and various birds. It is a furious untamable 

 creature, remarkably beautiful, but has a very dis- 

 agreeable smell.' On this Mr. Blyth observes, ' I 

 have not remarked the latter, though I have had 

 several big toms quite tame, and even found this to be 

 a particularly tamable species. A newly-caught male 



, . , T , /- T ' , i T i SKULL OF VIVERRINE CAT. 



killed a tame young Leopardess of mine about double a The bony bar fonne(1 ,, y the uniou o the frontal and jugal 

 his size.' The Rev. Mr. Baker, writing of its habits complet 



in Malabar, says that it often kills Pariah Dogs; and that he has known instances of slave children 

 (infants) being taken from their huts by this Cat ; also young calves." 



Notwithstanding its ferocity this is by no means a large animal, being only thirty to forty-four 

 inches long, without the tail, which is ten and a half to twelve and a half inches in length. " The eais 

 are rather small and blunt ; the pupil circular ; the fur coarse and without any gloss ; the limbs short 

 and very strong." The snout is narrow, and drawn out like that of a Civet, hence the name Viverrina. 

 The colour is grey, lighter beneath, and banded and spotted with black. There is a very noticeable 

 peculiarity in the skull, from the fact that the orbit, or bony cavity in which the eye is lodged, is 

 completed behind by bone, a character quite exceptional among Cats, and indeed among Carnivora 

 generally. 



A very fine specimen was brought over by the Prince of Wales after his visit to India, and 

 deposited in the Zoological Gardens in Regent's Park. 



THE PAMPAS CAT. J 



This animal, as its name implies, is found on the Pampas of South America, extending as far 

 south as the Strait of Magellan, and being especially abundant in the region of the Rio Negro. It is 

 about forty inches long, with a shortish tail and long fur; the hairs, indeed, sometimes attain a 

 length of four or five inches. "The colour of the skin is a pale yellowish-grey, traversed by 

 regularly disposed yellow or brown bands, which run obliqiiely from the back and the flanks. The 



* Fdis marmorata. 



f Felis viverrina. 



Felis pajeros. 



