Felid.k.- 



-MAMMALIA.- 



-Felid.e, 



119 



safety. Wlien a tiger comes, aud, perhaps after smell- 

 ing all around, begins to rear against the cage, the man 

 stabs him with one of the spears through the interstices 

 of the wicker-work, and rarely fails of destroying the 

 tiger, which is ordinarily found dead at no great dis- 

 tance in the morning." Another plan, stated by the 

 same authority to be employed in Oude, is too amusing 

 to pass unnoticed : — " The track of a tiger being ascer- 

 tained, which, though not invariably the same, may 

 yet be known sufficiently for the purpose, the peasants 

 collect a quantity of the leaves of the prauss, which are 

 like those of the sycamore, and are common in most 

 underwoods, as they form the larger portion of most 

 jungles in the north of India. These leaves are 

 smeared with a species of bird-lime, made by bruising 

 the berries of an indigenous tree ; they are then strewed 

 with the gluten uppermost, near to that opaque spot 

 to which, it is understood, the tiger usually resorts 

 during the noon-tide heats. If by chance the animal 

 should tread on one of the smeared leaves, his fi\te may 

 be considered as decided. He commences by shaking 

 his paw, with the view to remove the adhesive incum- 

 brance ; but finding no relief from that expedient, he 

 rubs the nuisance against his face with the same 

 iiitenlion, by which means his eyes, ears, &c., become 

 agglutinated, and occasion such uneasiness as causes 

 him to roll, perhaps among many more of the smeared 

 leaves, till at length he becomes completely enveloped, 

 and is deprived of sight. In this situation he may be 

 compared to a man who has been tarred and feathered. 

 The an.xiety produced by this strange and novel predi- 

 cament soon discovers itself in dreadful bowlings, which 

 serve to call the watchful peasants, who, in this state, 

 find no diihculty in shooting the mottled object of 

 detestation." A more common method of destroying 

 tigers is that of shooting them from a moychaun or 

 platform. This temporary elevation is erected only 

 when a tiger has carried off Sirae animal, and the 

 liaunt of his concealment has been duly ascertained by 

 Hnding the half-mangled carcase. The platform is then 

 lapidly constructed of bamboo or other poles, and raised 

 about twenty feet from the ground. On the tiger's 

 return, the native shecarrie, or sportsman, seldom fails 

 to kill or raortall}' wound the beast, for which, on his 

 return home, he is amply rewarded by money, gifts, 

 and congratulations. In conclusion, we may remark 

 that the tiger is capable of being tamed, but its dispo- 

 sition is iVascible and uncertain. The femaie usually 

 produces from two to four cubs at a birth. 



THE PUMA [Felis concolor), Cougar, or American 

 lion, as it is erroneously called, is easily recognized by 

 its nearly uniform fawn-coloured fur, which in the 

 young state, however, is faintly marked at the sides 

 with spots of a rather deep tinge of the same hue. 

 The inner sides of the legs, as well as the under parts 

 of the throat and belly, are lighter, inclining to wliite ; 

 but the posterior aspect of the ears, especially at the 

 base, the sides of the muzzle, and the tip of the tail, 

 are black. The body is about four feet six inches, not 

 including the tail, which measures some six and twenty 

 inches. With regard to its habits, early writers have 

 represented the Puma to be an extremely savage 

 species. This is indeed quite true, in so far as it 



relates to its depredations among cattle ; but it has 

 seldom been known to attack any human being. Mr. 

 Lawson, in his " History of Carolina," states that his 

 prey consists of " swine's flesh, deer, or anything he 

 can take. No creature is so nice and clean as this in 

 bis food. When be has got his prey, he fills his belly 

 with the slaughter, and carefully lays up the remainder, 

 covering it very neatly with leaves, which, if anything 

 touches, he never eats any more of it." The Puma is 

 an excellent climber : but, as a rule, it appears to pre- 

 fer the low, swamjiy, and more open grounds, where 

 it may commit terrible havoc among herds of cattle 

 pasturing in these situations. It has been known to 

 destroy as many as fifty sheep in a single night. The 

 Puma formerly occupied an extensive geographical 

 range, extending from Canada to Patagonia ; but the 

 progress of civilization has made terrible inroads upon 

 its haunts, it being now confined to limited areas chiefly 

 in the prairies of the north and the marshy lowlands of 

 the south. In the Pampas it is hunted and taken with 

 the lasso, while in Canada and the States it falls to 

 the more surely destructive rifle. When taken young 

 the Puma is easily tamed, and in the domesticated 

 state, exhibits all the playfulness of a kitten ; while on 

 being caressed it utteis the characteristic purring 

 sound. In the British Museum's list of Felidie it is 

 associated with the leopards. 



TRAILL'S PTJMA [Fdis uiiicvhr), or Spotless cat, 

 ap]icars to I'C quite distinct, being little more than half 

 the size of the true Puma. The body measures thirty- 

 two inches, exclusive of the tail, which would give us 

 another twenty inches. " The general hue of this 

 species is a beautiful glossy reddish-brown. The 

 colour of the whole upper part of the body, including 

 tlie head and tail, has a considerable resemblance to 

 that of a dark bay horse. The tint becomes gradually 

 paler on the sides and under part of the neck, and 

 passes by imperceptible shades into an ochry brown on 

 the belly. When closely examined, the darker colour 

 of the back is partly owing to an intermixture of 

 blackish-brown hairs with the rest of the fur. The 

 hair over the bodj' is rather short, like that usually 

 seen on a smooth Spanish pointer." Dr. Traill further 

 observes, by way of comparison, that " the head of the 

 Spotless cat is much more pointed, its nose more 

 elevated, and its limbs are much more slender in pro- 

 [lortion to its size, than in the puma. The strength of 

 the jaws and size of the teeth are likewise proportion- 

 ally less. In the puma the backs of the ears are black ; 

 in our animal they are of the same colour as the 

 adjacent parts. The tail of the puma is claviform, or 

 appears thickened towards the tip, wliich is black ; but 

 the tail of the Spotless cat is nearly of one thickness 

 throughout, and it wants the conspicuous black tip." 

 All that our authority has recorded of its habits may 

 be summed up in a few words, namely, that it occupies 

 the interior of large forests, preying upon monkeys, 

 quadrupeds, and birds. 



THE LION {Felis Leo) — Plate 8, fig. 28— occupies a 

 much wider geographical range than the tiger, especially 

 if we regard the Ganibian and maneless forms as mere 

 varieties of a single species. The latter kind are found 

 in the Indian territory of Guzerat, and in the adjacent 



