FELIS JAVANENSIS. 



marks on the back and on the sides of the body, and by its having an annulated 

 tail. The Felis vmdata of Java varies chiefly by a transverse disposition of the 

 spots on the sides of the body, and by a brighter colour. A distinct species has 

 recently been added to the Hon. East India Company's collection from Sumatra. 



The general colour of the Felis javanensis is grayish brown, exhibiting on the 

 body, neck, and limbs a delicate mixture of gray of different shades ; the upper 

 parts are more intensely coloured, and incline to tawny ; the throat, cheeks, fore- 

 part of the neck, the breast, belly, and tail underneath are whitish. Although it 

 resembles the common domestic cat in many points, the smallness of the ears, and 

 their distance from the eyes, give to its front a different appearance ; the form of 

 the body is likewise more slender. 



The specific character is founded on the disposition of four dark brown or 

 blackish stripes, deeper and more regular on the head, neck, and back, passing, 

 with interruptions of the general gray colour, to the root of the tail, on the regularity 

 of the lateral spots on the body, and on the transverse bands on the throat and breast. 

 As the four longitudinal lines on the head and back are observed in most of the 

 allied species, and even in several varieties of the common domestic cat, it is 

 necessary, in defining the specific distinctions, to combine these with other characters. 

 In the Felis javanensis four interrvipted lines of oblong spots may be traced on the 

 sides of the body, extending to the rump, more regularly disposed than in the other 

 species that I have examined, while the marks on the belly are roundish. On the 

 limbs and tail similar spots are distinguished in broken lines, at small distances ; on 

 the latter they are very obscure. The inner side of each of the limbs is marked 

 transversely with two indistinct lines. The face has the same colour as the body, 

 the reo-ion of the mouth being paler, and marked with several transverse stripes, 

 from which arise numerous bristles, shorter than the head, diversified with gray and 

 white. A long white streak, broader above, marks the side of the nose, and is 

 continued towards the forehead. Between the two inner frontal lines an obscure 

 stripe appears, which is lost on the neck, where the two exterior lines diverge, and 

 taking an oblique direction on the back, continue a small branch over the shoulders. 



The eyes are placed more anteriorly in the head than in several other species ; 

 the irides are yellowish, inclining to brown ; the pupil is circular. The ears are 

 round and small ; from their base anteriorly rises a thick tuft of hair ; exteriorly 

 the base is white, and they are terminated by a broad black margin. Behind the 

 ears an extensive black spot marks the sides of the head. From the posterior angle 

 of the eye, a short narrow stripe passes vmder the ear. The superior transverse 

 band rises from the cheek, near the angle of the mouth, and, after taking a curve 



