THE AMERICAN TIGER. 



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sheep. Men, children, dogs these he suffers to pass by unmolested. 

 His depredations are nocturnal. When domesticated, he may well 

 be likened to the common cat, and he shows his pleasure at being 

 caressed by the same kind of gentle purring. But he is a ferocious 

 animal, and will kill fifty sheep or more in order to drink their blood. 

 A much more formidable animal is the Jaguar. In size and 

 strength he is but little inferior to the tiger. He has a large and 

 rounded head ; his pliant body is marked on the back with long 



COUOOUARS, OK PUMAS. 



uninterrupted stripes, on the legs and thighs with full black spots ; 

 his ground colour is a pale brownish -yellow; his legs are short, thick, 

 and robust. He extends his ravages over all Central and South 

 America, and over a considerable range of the northern continent. 

 Like the tiger, he loves the shade of hot swampy jungles, the neigh- 

 bourhood of the river and the lake. He generally preys on animals 

 of domestic origin, which have grown wild in the prairies and the 

 pampas, but he will also attack the bisons, and the other herbivora. 



