THE WILD -CAT. 825 



as in the domestic animal, but is always a dusky grey, 

 brindled on the belly and flanks with dingy brown 

 hair long and rough, the head exceedingly broad, 

 ears short, tusks extremely large. Another very distin- 

 guishing point is the great length and power of the limbs. 

 It stands as high as a good-sized dog. But perhaps the 

 most unfailing mark of all is the tail, which is so long and 

 bushy as to strike the most careless observer. In the 

 males it is generally much shorter than in the females, but 

 even more remarkable, being almost as thick as a fox's brush. 

 The woodcut is taken from the largest female that has 

 ever been killed in Dumbartonshire, and most correctly 

 shows the difference of its size from that of a full-grown 

 house-cat. It was trapped on the banks of Loch Lomond 

 in the depth of winter, having come down to the low 

 ground in quest of prey. The bait was half a hare, hung 

 on a tree, the trap being set immediately under. The 

 person who went to inspect it thought, when at a little 

 distance, that a yearling lamb was caught. As he came 

 near, the cat sprang up two or three feet from the ground, 

 carrying the large heavy trap as if scarcely feeling its 

 weight. He would have had great difficulty in killing it, 

 had he not dodged round the tree when aiming a blow. I 

 have seen two males bearing the same proportion to this 

 specimen, both in size and fierceness of aspect, as an old 

 half-wild Tom to a chimney-nook mother Tabby. One of 

 these was shot by a gamekeeper, when on a grouse- 

 shooting expedition, in a very remote range; the other 

 was trapped near the top of a high mountain. 



