FELIS. 59 



Pupil rouud*. Htiii- of tlie dieeks from beliiiid the eiirs round 

 the sides of the neck considerably lengthened in adult males, so 

 as to form a ruff. Hair of body short and close (but varying 

 in length somewhat with the season). Tail about half the length 

 of the head and body, tapering gradually, not tufted at the end. 

 Tail vertebrae 22 to 2(3. 



The skull is very niassi\e and heavy, the zygomatic arches 

 excessively wide and strong, and the crests for attachment of the 

 muscles highly developed. On an average the skull is even larger, 

 wider, and more massive than that of the lion. The facial suri'ace 

 is considerably more convex, the maxillary bones terminate 

 posteriorly between the orbits in front of the nasals, and the lower 

 surface of the presphenoid in the roof of the posterior nares is 

 much broader than iu the lion, and is generally raised into a ridge 

 along the middle. The lower surface of the niandible is nearly 

 straight to near the angle, then slightly concave. Consequently 

 the skull of a tiger, with the lower jaw attached, rests firmly on a 

 Hat surface, whilst the posterior portion of the skull nowhere 

 touches the surface. This is not the case with any other great 

 feline, except ])erhaps the jaguar. 



Colour. Ground-colour, al)Ove and on the sides, varying from 

 pale rufous to brownish yellow, below white, striped transversely 

 with black throughout the head and body. The tail is marked 

 \\ith black rings. Ears black outside, with a large white spot on 

 each. The ground-colour is much more rufous in some animals 

 than ia others, and forest tigers are probably darker and redder 

 than those inhabiting the thin jungles of Central and Southern 

 India. Young animals, too, are more brightly coloured than old. 

 The young are born striped. Both black and albino tigers have 

 been" met with, though both are very rare. Mr. C. T. fiuckland 

 tells me that he once saw a black tiger that had been shot near 

 Chittagong ; whilst an albino tiger was exhibited in London, at 

 Exeter Change, early in the century, and figured by Grifflthf . 



IJiinensions. Adult males measure 5| to 65 feet from nose to 

 insertion of tail, the tail being about 3 feet long. In a male 

 9 feet 4 inches long, measured by Tickell, the head was 1(J inches, 

 neck 12, body 4 feet, tail 3 feet 2 inches. Females measure about 

 5 to 5| feet i'rom nose to rump. The height at the shoulder is 

 about 3 feet to 3 feet 6 inches. The usual measurement of tigers 

 by sportsmen is from the nose over the curves of the head and 

 back and along the tail to the tip. Thus measured full-grown 

 tigers are generally 9 to 10 feet long, tigresses 8 to 9 ; but tigers 

 have been kdled 12 feet in length, and 1 myself shot an apparently 

 full-grown tigress only 7 feet 6 inches long, and another specimen 

 that had cubs with her measured only 7 feet 8 inchesj. The skull 



* Jerdon is in error in stating that the pupil is vertical. 



t Griffith's ' Cuvier,' ii, p. 44i. 



I A very good account of the measurements of tigers is given in Sterndale's 

 ' Mammalia of India,' pp. 162, 527. See also Sir J. Fayrer, ' Nature,' June 27th, 

 1878, xviii, p. 219. By both tigers measuring over 12 feet are recorded. Tickell, 

 in his MS. notes, states that he once saw a tiger that measured 11 feet 9 inches. 



