COMMON AMERICAN WILD CAT. 



Tail, to end of hair 51 do. 



From nose to end of sliull 4J do. 



From nose, following the curvature of the head - 6 do. 



Tufts on the ears ...... i do. 



Breadth of ear If do. 



Anterior length of ear Ij do. 



Length of neck 4 do. 



We.ght 171b. 



The general appearance of this species conveys the idea of a degree of 

 ferocity, which cannot with propriety be considered as belonging to its 

 character, although it will, when at bay, show its sharp teeth, and with 

 outstretched claws and infuriated despair, repel the attacks of either man 

 or dog, sputtering the while, and rolling its eyes like the common cat. 



It is, however, generally cowardly when attacked, and always flies 

 from its pursuers, if it can, and although some anecdotes have been re- 

 lated to us of the strength, daring, and fierceness of this animal ; such as 

 its having been knowTi to kill at different times a sheep, a full-grown doe, 

 attack a child in the woods, &c. ; yet in all the instances that have come 

 under our own notice, we have found it very timid, and always rather 

 inclined to beat a retreat, than to make an attack on any animal larger 

 than a hare or a young pig. In the American Turf register, there is an 

 interesting extract of a letter from Dr. Coleman, U. S. A., written at Fort 

 Armstrong, Prairie du Chien, giving an account of a contest between an 

 eagle and a Wild Cat. After a fierce struggle, in which the eagle was 

 so badly wounded as to be unable to fly, the Cat, scratched and pierced in 

 many places, and having had one eye entirely "gouged out" in the com- 

 bat, was found lying dead. 



In hunting at night for racoons and opossiuns, in which sport the negroes 

 on the plantations of Carolina take great delight, a Cat is occasionally 

 "treed" by the dogs ; and the negroes, who seldom carry a gun, climb up 

 the tree and shake him oft' as they would do a racoon, and although he 

 fights desperately, he is generally killed by the dogs. During a botanical 

 excursion through the swamps of the Edisto river, our attention was at- 

 tracted by the barking of a small terrier at the foot of a sapling, (young 

 tree.) On looking up, we observed a Wild Cat, about twenty feet from 

 the ground, of at least three times the size of the dog, which he did not 

 appear to be much afraid of. He seemed to have a greater dread of 

 man, however, than of this diminutive specimen of the canine race, and 

 leaped from the tree as we drew near. 



