THE OCELOT. 245 



THE OCELOT. (Felis pardalis, Linn.)* 

 Mexican, or Peruvian Tiger. Tiger-cat. 



The ocelot inhabits Paraguay, the Brazils, and other parts 

 of South America chiefly, but is also found in Mexico. 



When full grown, its body is nearly three feet, and its tail 

 somewhat more than one foot in length. Its height is generally 

 one foot and a half. Those readers who are well acquainted 

 with this handsome and graceful creature, will agree in the 

 remark of Buffoii, that " of all animals with tigrine skins, the 

 male ocelot has unquestionably the most beautiful and at the 

 same time the most elegantly variegated robe ; that of the 

 leopard himself does not approach it in liveliness of colour 

 or regularity of design." The ground colour of its coat is 

 gray with a slight tinge of fawn ; and on this it is elegantly 

 marked with numerous compressed or elongated rings of black, 



* The pardalis, or panther of the ancients, is the Felis pardus of Linnaeus, 

 which inhabits the whole of Africa, the southern parts of Asia, and the Indian 

 Archipelago. The panther of the modern zoologists is the animal called Felis 

 concolor by Linnaeus, and popularly known here and among emigrants by 

 the several names of couguar, puma, and American lion. Goldsmith and 

 some others call the ocelot the cat o 'mountain ; but Mr. R. C. Taylor, in his 

 account of the zoology of the Alleghany Mountains, appends the words "cat o' 

 mountain, or mountain cat" to the Mississippi lynx (Felix montana). 



