COMMON AMERICAN WILD CAT. 3 



Lynx Floridanus, Idem, Ibid. pp. 4, C4. 



Lynx Aureus, Idem, Ibid. p. 46, G. 



Felis Carolinensis, Dcsm., Mamm,, p. 231. 



Felis Rufa, Godm., Amer. Nat. Hist., vol. iii., p. 239 ; Fig. in vol. 1. 



DESCRIPTION'. 



la size and form, this species bears some resemblance to small speci- 

 mens of the female Canada Lynx, {Lynx Canadensis,) the larger feet and 

 more tufted ears of the latter, however, as well as its grayer colour, will 

 enable even an unpractised observer at a glance to distinguish the difler- 

 ence between the two species. 



Head of moderate size, rounded ; body rather slender ; legs long ; soles 

 of feet naked ; hind-feet webbed to within five-eighths of an inch of the 

 claws ; ears large, nearly triangular, erect, tipped with coarse hairs half 

 an inch long, wliich drop out in summer ; the inner surface thinly sprinkled 

 with loose hairs, outer, thickly covered with short fur. 



A ruff of elongated hairs surrounding the throat, more prominent in the 

 male than female ; tail, short, slender, and slightly turned upwards, 

 mammae eight ; four pectoral and four abdominal. 



The hind-head and back, yellowish-brcOTi, with a dorsal line more or 

 less distinct, of dark-brown, running from the shoulder to near the inser- 

 tion of the tail. A few irregular longitudinal stripes on the back, of the 

 same colour. The sides spotted ^^'ith dark-brown, these spots being more 

 distinct and in closer approximation in some specimens than in others. 



Forehead obscurely striped with dark-brown. Over and beneath the 

 eyes, yellowish- white ; whiskers nearly all white. Ears, outer surface, 

 a triangular spot of dull white, dilated towards the outer margin, bordered 

 with brownish-black ; inner surface yellovi-ish- white. Under surface of 

 body yellowish-white, spotted with black ; tail, above, barred -«ith rufous 

 and black, towards the extremity a broad band of black, tipped at the 

 point, and particularly in the centre with white ; under surface of tail, 

 light-gray, interspersed with small and irregular patches of black hairs. 



Fore-feet, on the upper surface, broatUy, and towards the toes minutely, 

 spotted with black on a light yellowish-brown ground; inner surface dull 

 white, with two broad and several narrow bars of black ; paws beneath, 

 and hair between the soles, dark-brown. Hind-legs barred and spotted 

 similarly to the fore-legs. Chin and throat dull white, with two black 

 lines, commencing at a point on a line with the articulation of the 

 lower jaw, where they form an acute angle, and thence diverge to the 



