THE WILD CAT. 



THE common wild cat is the only animal of this 

 family that is found in the British Islands, and there it 

 is very seldom met with. In the south of England it 

 was formerly much more common than at the present 

 time ; but it has been forced to yield to the dominion of 

 man, and is now almost extinct. Though not nume- 

 rous, these creatures may still be found among the 

 woody mountainous districts of Cumberland and West- 

 moreland. In the wild parts of the north of Scotland, 

 and in Ireland, they are more abundant ; and in some 

 countries of the former, there are men who obtain a 

 livelihood by the hunting and destroying of wild cats 

 and other animals, which make considerable inroads on 

 both the flocks and the poultry. They are rather 

 smaller than domestic cats. 



The lodgment of these animals is in hollow trees, in 

 the fissures of rocks, and in deep and narrow holes found 

 on the face of fearful precipices. From thence they 

 issue forth in pursuit of prey, but chiefly during the 



