10 UNITED STATES AND MEXICAN BOUND AEY. 



more 



Felis 



closer to it than any, and is distinguished with some difficulty ; it is^ however, a smaller animal, 

 ower on the legs, not so much blotched beneath^ and the spots on the sides separated by longer 



1 



intervals and scarcely arranged in series. 



Whether or not the present species should bear the restricted name of Felis pardalis can only 

 be ascertained from an examination of a large number of South American specimens. Several 

 names of supposed distinct species — as F, catenata^ GriflF,; F. armiUataj Cuv,; F. chibiguzUy 

 F. gr\ffithiij Griff., &c. — are usually considered as mere varieties of one. 



The skull of the ocelot in general shape is not dissimilar to that of the panther or cougar 

 (^Felts concohr ;) it lacks, however, the depression of the skull at the posterior extremity of the 

 nasal bones, nor are there any traces of the dove-tailed wedges sent up from the parietal bones 

 into the frontal* The post orbital processes are longer, the sides more nearly parallel, and the 

 sides more perpendicular to the major axis of the skull. The upper outlines of the skull are 

 quite similar. The incisive foramina of the ocelot are larger and longer, extending as far as 



the anterior edge of the canines. The upper canines of the ocelot are more compressed than in 

 the cougar, and have four distinct longitudinal grooves externally. There is but little difTerence 



in the shape of the other teeth ; the second premolar is perhaps shorter and higher in the 

 cougar. The deciduous dentition is also very similar ; the most anterior of the two forward 

 tubercles of the second molar longer perhaps in the ocelot. The coronoid process of the lower 

 jaw is higher, narrower, and with less cancave outlines behind in the ocelot. There are also 

 but two distinct foramina on the outside of the jaw below the vacant space separating the canine 

 from molarSj and these are in a horizontal line, and sometimes confluent in one, while in the 

 panther there is a third one, equally distinct, above the anterior one of the horizontal series, 

 29. Eagle Pass, Texas. Col. S. Cooper.— 129, Eagle Pass. A. Schott.— 255. Mata- 



r 



moras. Lt. Couch. 



Tiger cat, Leopard cat of the Texans.—^^ This beautiful cat, though quite common through the western wiUs, was met by our 

 party but once on the lower Rio Bravo. The dogs started it first and * treed it/ as the hunters say. One or two pistol bullets, 

 however, drove it down again, to seek a safer place in a dense nopal thicket, a common resort of persecuted animals. 



" In taking off the skin of this specimen I found its inside all over covered with opuntia prickles, which, naturally barbed as 

 they are, had workrd themselves in with the movements of the skin. The animal, however, did not seem to have suffered any, 

 by this otherwise dreaded annoyance, for all the prickles lodged themselves horizontally or in an oblique direction into the skin, 

 so that the points would not reach the muscles and nerves. I observed subsequently the same circumstance on other animals, 

 which accounts for the readiness with which they take to these bushes, unapproachable for men. 



•» As the ocelot is but a small robber, his importance in regard to the development of civilization stands in a strict proportion 

 to the size of the game he is preying on. He is, however, eagerly hunted for the sake of his beautiful fur. 



••Almost every western trapper, of both the white or red race, has something of his professional outfit adorned or made of 

 an ocelot's sk 



" One or two dollars are paid for one, and this is also about the price of a Jaguar or Puma skin."— A. Schott. 



8. FELIS EYEA, Desm. (p. 88.)— Tiger Cat. 



Sf. Cit.— Size of the house cat, but neck longer, and general form more musteline. Tail rather longer than the body, exclusi 



usive 



of the neck and head. Color uniform brownish red, a little paler beneath. (Hairs not mottled ?) 



skull 



tlie Berlandiere collectiou, together with a short description and figure by Dr. Berlandiere. 



F, evra, or that the F 



game animal, yet, in the absence of fuller data, it will be safe to consider it for the present as 



