1907.] RECENTLY IN THE SOCIETY'S GARDEXS. 659 



In the size, distinctness, and the suggestion of the rosette- shape 

 in the spots, this specimen resembles more closely than any that 

 1 have seen the example from near Cape Coast Castle, that 

 formerly lived in the Gardens, and was figured by Dr. Sclater on 

 pi. xxvii. in the ' Proceedings ' for 1873. 



In the collection of the Zoological Society there are three com- 

 plete skins : — 



1. W. Africa; obtained from a dealer and therefore without 

 trustworthy locality. — General coloration I'ufous, greyer on the 

 sides than on the back, neck, head, and tail. Marked all over 

 Avith reddish-brown spots, forming indistinct lines on the back, 

 neck, and head ; tail with median line and indistinct bars. 

 This must be regarded as a rufous form of F. celidogaster. It is 

 somewhat like no. 7 of the above-given B. M. series ; and also 

 like the example from Cape Coast Castle figured by Dr. Sclater, 

 but is less distinctly spotted than either. 



2. Accra. — Differs principally from the last in being of a grey 

 or slightly brownish-grey colour all over, the spots being dark 

 brown instead of rufous-brown. The crown of the head is very 

 distinctly striped and the j)ostocular stripe is well defined. This 

 appears to be typical F. celidogaster . 



3. Sierra Leone. — This specimen is by far the most interesting of 

 the three. It agrees almost exactly with the skin Mr. Lydekker 

 made the type of F. c. cottoni, remarking that its dark hue is 

 evidently an adaptation to its habitat in the Ituri forest. Oui- spe- 

 cimen, however, came from Sierra Leone, considerably over 2000 

 miles from the Ituri forest. Nor is this all. When first imported 

 and presented to the Society by Mr. Hudson on June 21st, 1906, 

 the live specimen was unspotted, except beneath, and of a rufous- 

 brown colour exactly recalling the tint of a rich dark-hued Puma 

 [F. concolor). But in four 'inonths' time the coloitr entirely changed 

 from rufoxos to grey. Tliis was effected by the fading of the pale 

 band in the distal half of each individual hair from red to nearly 

 white, the white with the terminal black portion combining to 

 produce the grey tint. Unfortunately, the animal died in 

 November, so that no further observations could be made ; but 

 happily he lived long enough to prove that the i-ufous and the 

 gi'eyish phases may succeed one another in a comparatively short 

 space of time in the life-history of a single individual of this 

 species*. That such a change might occur was suspected by 

 Dr. Elliot, who noticed that in the type of F. celidogaster Temm. 

 the end of the tail was red like that of the type of F. chrysothrix, 

 '■• as though the animal had been changing its coat from one 

 colour to the other." This gave him the idea that the change 

 might be seasonal. The truth of the suspicion as to the 



* What is true of this species may also be true of others. Several species of Cats 

 are known to be dimorphic in colour, like, for example, F. jagwarondi. But no 

 actual change of the one colour into the other such as is described above, has as yet 

 been recorded. 



