"FLORIDA" ON CANTINO MAP 135 



peckers as well as parrots.^^ In general, any gar- 

 rulous bird might be called a popinjay. The lynx is 

 often called a catamount, or gato mo7ites, by the 

 Mexicans. The Cabot map of 1544^^ indicates on 

 the mainland of North America three large animals; 

 one of these in the east-central region is spotted like 

 a tiger. The wildcat species is found all over North 

 America. There is a species, known as the northern 

 lynx {Felis canadensis) , whose habitat is the northern 

 regions, which is thought to be the loiip-cervier of the 

 early voyagers; this particular species is not found 

 south of Pennsylvania. As, however, it is of a uni- 

 form gray color it does not seem to be the same as that 

 depicted on the Cabot map and certainly could not 

 be called a tiger. Another species, called the bay 

 lynx, or American wildcat {Felis riifa), the gato 

 mo7ites of the Mexicans, is found quite generally over 

 North America as far south as Florida and Mexico. 

 It is spotted in such a way that it might be called a 

 tiger and is of such size as to attract immediate at- 

 tention, being about thirty inches from the tip of the 

 nose to the root of the tail. Nothing definite can be 

 asserted about the name ''C. delgato" on the basis 

 of the habitat of the various members of the Felidae. 

 But the fact that the Portuguese mention tigers in 

 the north, that the animal is pictured on the Cabot 

 map, and that there is no mention of Felidae on the 



61 See "popinjay" in Webster's Dictionary; also various spellings and 

 meanings in the Century Dictionary. 



6- Jomard, op. cit., PI. XX, 1-4; Kretschmer, op. cil., atlas, PI. 16. 

 (For further details see third study, p. 84, footnote 52.) 



