1871.] MR. E.W. H. HOLDSWORTH ON FELIS RUBIGINOSA. 75/ 



The manners of Felis rubiginosa are, so far as I have had the 

 means of observing them, those of the true Cats, shown by its stealthy 

 walk and watchful looks above and around it; and I may add that the 

 example I met with, although hit all over by a charge of large shot, 

 fought hard for its life, and some miuutes elapsed before I could safely 

 lay my hands upon it. It preys on birds and small quadrupeds. 



Although nowhere common in Ceylon, this Cat is found more 

 frequently on the hills than elsewhere ; and I have examined three 

 specimens which were procured within a few miles of Kandy, 

 probably at an elevation of from 1500 to 2000 feet. The hill-coun- 

 try, I may mention, occupies the centre of the southern two thirds 

 of the island ; and it is from that region that most of the rarer and 

 peculiar members of the Ceylonese fauna are obtained. Jerdon 

 speaks of this animal in Tudia as especially frequenting open grassy 

 places and the neighbourhood of villages, and also mentions, on his 

 own authority and on that of correspondents, that hybrids are not 

 unfrequently produced between this species and the domestic Cat. 

 I have very little doubt that Felis rubiginosa, the animal I am now 

 speaking of, is the one to which Jerdon refers ; but I must say, from 

 my own experience, and from what I have heard of the animal, that in 

 Ceylon it is a true jungle Cat, and hybrids from it are there unknown. 

 The specimen I shot was walking along one of the ordinary narrow 

 game-paths in wild jungle, more than two miles from the nearest 

 native dwelling; and although I knew of one instance in which it was 

 killed very close to Kandy, that would not lead one to expect this Cat 

 would be generally found in the neighbourhood of towus or villages ; 

 for at Kandy the primitive jungle, that which has never been cleared 

 or disturbed, is only separated by a little-frequented road from the 

 gardens of the Governor's official residence ; and taking the year 

 round there is hardly any locality in the island which is so productive 

 of rare and peculiar species of birds and quadrupeds as this particular 

 jungle. I have thought it right to mention this, because the distri- 

 bution and habitats of the Ceylon fauna do not appear to agree in 

 all cases with what are found in other countries producing similar 

 forms. 



To return to this Cat : the four examples I saw in the island (one 

 of them killed by myself) agreed perfectly in the characteristic co- 

 lour and markings of the species ; the general ground-colour of the 

 animals was a light greyish fawn, striped on the head and back, and 

 spotted on the sides and legs with bright rusty brown. This general 

 rusty colour of the markings has suggested its specific name, and it 

 is generally known as the Red-spotted Cat. 



The late Dr. Kelaart, who with Mr. Edgar Layard did so much 

 towards working out the natural history of Ceylon, mentions, how- 

 ever, in his ' Prodromus Faunae Zeylanicse,' that specimens of this Cat 

 from Nuwara Eliya (6000 feet) are darker-coloured and more spotted 

 (probably he meant more distinctly spotted) than those from a less ele- 

 vation ; and I now wish to bring before the Society what I believe is 

 an undoubted example of Felis rubiginosa, but which differs so much 

 from the typical character that hardly any trace of rust-colour is 



