58 



NATURAL HISTORY 



and a half. The" short, soft fur is a greenish-grey, with a faint rufous tinge, and marked with rusty- 

 coloured spots, roundish on the sides, but, as usual, becoming elongated in the direction of the animal's 

 length, on the back. It is found in the Carnatic, and in the southern parts of Ceylon. 



THE LEOPARD CAT.* 



This is another of the numerous Indian Cats, and is a very beautiful species. Its hide is of a 

 yellowish-grey, or bright tawny hue, quite white below, and marked with longitudinal stripes on the 

 head, shoulders, and back, and with large irregular spots on the sides, which become rounded towards 

 the belly. The tail is a spotted colour, indistinctly ringed towards the tip. . The body, from the end of 



the snout to the tip of the tail, attains a length of from thirty-five to thirty-nine inches, eleven or 

 twelve of which are made up by the tail. 



" The Leopard Cat is found throughout the hilly region of India, from the Himalayas to the 

 extreme south, and Ceylon, and in richly-wooded districts, at a low elevation occasionally, or when 

 heavy jungle grass is abundant, mixed with forest and brushwood. It ascends the Himalayas to a 

 considerable elevation, and is said by Hodgson even to occur in Tibet, and is found at the level of 

 the sea in the Bengal Sunderbunds. It extends through Assam, Burmah, the Malayan peninsula, to 

 the islands of Java and Sumatra, at all events." f 



It is as fierce as any of its savage kin. " A shikarie declared that it drops on large animals, and 

 even on Deer " (remember that the animal is only two feet long !) " and eats its way into the neck ; 

 that the animal in vain endeavours to roll or shake it off, and at last is destroyed." In confinement it. 

 is extremely savage, and, curiously enough, " it never paces its cage for exercise during the daytime, 

 at least, but constantly remains crouched in a corner, though awake and vigilant." 



* Felis .bengalensis. 



Jerdon. 



