234 



MAMMALIA. 



F. chaus considerably, its legs and ears are much shorter and 

 its tail much longer, this Blyth suspects to be derived from the 

 domestic cat with an admixture of chaus blood. 



The two examples of this latter form are " e" and " j " of the list 

 below ; " e " is specially to be noticed since it was shot in the town 

 of Banda, round which F. chaus abounds. " 



The English tabby is never seen in India ; this may possibly be 

 due to the fact that the tabby markings of the English domestic cat 

 are due to an admixture of the blood of the wild cat (F. catus). 

 Evidence to show that domestic cats breed with some of the 

 different species of wild cats will be found in Pennant where, 

 after the description of F. bengalensis, he mentions that the 

 specimen from which the description was drawn up, coupled with 

 female domestic cats and produced offspring ; Blyth also quotes 

 the evidence of Sir Walter Elliot on the subject [vide J. A. S. B., 

 xvii, pp. 247 and 559) in the cases of F. chaus and F. rubiginosa. 



There are also in the collection two skins which seem to require 

 further remark, these are " f ", the skin procured by Dr. Scully at 

 Kashgar, and " g " one procured by the Afghan Boundary Com- 

 mission at Wen Male. 



The former, which is a flat skin without a skull, was described 

 by Mr. Blanford in the Yarkand Mammals as F. catus, but it 

 differs from F. catus in having a slender and tapering tail instead 

 of a clubbed one which is so characteristic of the true F. catus of 

 Europe. The other skin from Afghanistan also has a slender 

 tapering tail ; a comparison of the skull of this specimen with a 

 skull of an English F. catus, and with the skulls of several speci- 

 mens of F. domestica shows that this Afghan cat agrees with the 

 domestic cat in the several points in which the latter differs from 

 F. catus, i.e., in F. domestica, the frontal and squamosal bones 

 are separated from one another by the parietals and alisphenoids, 

 the nasals are not produced posteriorly beyond the frontal pro- 

 cesses of the maxillae, and, finally, the teeth are small as compared 

 with F. catus. In all these points the Afghan cat agrees with the 

 domestic cat and not with Felis catus. 



a. Skin Punjab Salt Range W. Theobald, A.S.B. 



b. Skin Hansi, Punjab D. Scott, A.S.B. 



c. Skin E. Blyth, A.S.B. 



d. Skin Deccan (Col. Sykes) India Mus., London. 



e. Skin, skull Banda (town), N.-W.P. J. Cockbuni (1881). 

 /. Skin Kashgar J. Scully. 



g. Skin Wen Male, Afghanistan 1. E. T. Aichison. 



A. Stuffed (tabby) No history, A.S.B. 



y. Stuffed, skull Calcutta No history, A.S.B. 



A. Stuffed No history, A.S.B. 



i. Skull No history, A.S.B. 



m. Skeleton No history, A.S.B. 



«. Skeleton Calcutta Purchased. 



