1907.] MR. R. I. POOOCK ON PALLAS's CAT. 301 



of temper iu Oats ; and the " spit " was a short, sharp sound 

 like " ts," " ts,'' " ts," projected through neai-ly closed lips. 

 According to the keeper, Dixon, the "mew" or "caterwaul" 

 was a sound somewhat recalling a combination of the bark of a 

 small dog and the " hoot " of an owl. This was heard on one 

 occasion in reply to the typical " caterwaul " of a female Uganda 

 Cat {I'\ ocreata), when " on heat." 



The tail was almost invariably carried with its posterior half 

 upcurled, so that the broad black confluent stiipes on the under 

 side of its distal end were in full view from behind. The 

 conspicuousness of this jet-black area was enhanced in a marked 

 degree by his peculiar habit of jerking the end of the tail smartly 

 up and down. The lowness and width of the summit of the head 

 and the lateral " set " of the ears imparted to this Cat an aspect 

 totally difierent from that of all other species (text-fig. 87). In the 

 latter the inner edge of the ear normally rises obliquely outwards 

 from the top of the head to form, with the outer border, a con- 

 tinuous curve or an acute angle. But in F. onanul the inner border 

 lies normally in the same plane as the top of the head, and meets 

 the vertical outer border at a right angle. This border rises from 

 the head at a point on a level with the outer canthus of the eye. 

 Since depression of the ears in Cats is an infallible sign of anger 

 or of predatory excitement, the simulation of this act caused by 

 the low and lateral setting of these organs in the Manul imparts 

 to his face a permanent look of ferocity and unrest, quite unlike 

 the placid aspect of other Cats with their ears normally erect. 



So far as the Manul is concerned, one practical result of the 

 lowness of the forehead and the lateral setting of the small ears 

 is the power to peer over the edge of an object, like a rock or a 

 fallen tree-trunk, without depressing and closing the ears, and 

 without showing so much of the cranium as most of the " high- 

 headed " Cats do when so occupied. Other Cats, when watching 

 prey from behind some such point of vantage, always lower the 

 ears so as to make them invisible and, at the same time, partially 

 close them in such a way that quickness of hearing must be 

 interfered with to a greater or less extent. In this, perhaps, 

 may be found the explanation of the peculiar structural features 

 in the head which give the Manul its remarkable physiognomy. 

 Be this as it may, the above-proffered explanation was forcibly 

 suggested by the observation of the liAdng Manul peering over 

 the edge of his sleeping-box and showing a relatively small 

 amount of head above the eyes, the ears at the time being 

 scarcely perceptibly depressed and not in any sense closed. 



It has been stated by Gray *, on the authority of Hodgson, 

 that the pupils of the eyes are linear and erect. This was not 

 the case in the Society's specimen. Under the influence of 

 sunlight the pupil contracted to a small circular or subcircular disk. 

 The iris was yellowish. 



* P. Z. S. 1867, p. 275. This statement probabl}^ misled Elliot into having the 

 e^'es of F. manul in his monograph drawn like those of a domestic Cat. 



Proc. Zool. See— 1907, No. XX.I. 21 



