4 COMMON AMERICAN WILD CAT. 



sides of the neck, and unite with the ruff, which is black, mixed with yel- 

 lowish-brown and gray hairs. 



The female is considerably smaller than the male, her body more slen- 

 der, and her movements have a stronger resemblance, in their lightness 

 and agility, to those of the common house-cat ; the markings appear more 

 distinct, and the rounded black spots on the back and sides, smaller and 

 more numerous. There is in this species a considerable diversity in 

 colour, as well as in size. In spring and early summer, before it has shed 

 its winter coat, it is uniformly more rufous, and the black markings are 

 less distinct, than after shedding its hair, and before the new hair is elon- 

 gated in autumn to form the winter coat. 



Our specimens obtained in summer and autumn, are of a light gray 

 colour, with scarcely any mixture of rufous, and all the black markings 

 are brighter and far more distinct than they are in those killed in the win- 

 ter or spring months. 



There are, hoAvever, at all seasons of the jear, even in the same neigh- 

 bourhood, strongl}--marked varieties, and it is difficult to find two indivi- 

 duals precisely alike. 



Some specimens are broadly marked with fulvous under the throat, 

 whilst in others the throat as well as the chin are gray. In some the 

 stripes on the back and spots along the sides are very distinctly seen, 

 whilst in others they are scarcely visible, and the animal is grayish-brown 

 above, with a dark dorsal stripe. A specimen from the mountains of 

 Pennsylvania presents this appearance strikingly, and is withal nearly 

 destitute of the triangular marking under the throat, so that we hesitated 

 for some time in refen-ing it to this species. A specimen from Louisiana 

 is of the same uniform colour above, but with more distinct linear mark- 

 ings on the face, and with coarse hair, not more than half the length of that 

 of individuals from the Northern States. We obtained a specimen in 

 Carolina, which in nearly every particular answers to the description of 

 Felis CaroUncnsis of Desmarest. If the various supposed new species of 

 Wild Cat, described by Rafinesque, Harlan, Desmarest, &c., are entitled 

 to a place in our Fauna, on accomit of some peculiarity of colour, Ave have 

 it in our power from specimens before us, to increase the number to a 

 considerable extent ; but in doing so we think we should only swell the 

 list of synonymes, and add to the confusion which already prevails in re- 

 gard to some of the species belonging to this genus. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Adult Male. — [Fine Specimen.] 



From point of nose to root of tail - - - 30 inches. 

 Tail (vertebrae) 5 do. 



