The Cat Family. 145 



marked, but in general color they are lighter than those of 

 the Bengal Tiger, and the stripes are not as black and 

 numerous. 



White Tigers with light brown stripes are rare but ex- 

 ceedingly beautiful. 



The face of the Chinese Tiger, like that of the lynx, is 

 surrounded by a long, deep fringe of white and black fur ; 

 and on many of the animals there is a hump of longer 

 and thicker fur between the shoulders than on the rest 

 of the body, and on all of them there is a thick ridge 

 of bristly hair running down the back the same as on 

 the lynx and other species of the cat family. On 

 many of the younger animals the color is sometimes pale, 

 but the larger adults are mostly of a fine, rich brown 

 color, approaching the deep hue of the Bengal variety. 

 The cubs have the densest coats. The ears of the Tiger 

 are black with white tips. 



The Bengal Tiger is the smaller and more numerous of 

 the two varieties, and is distinguished by the brightness of 

 its markings. The strongly contrasting colors of the head 

 are white and black. The belly is white, but the general 

 color of the body is a rich reddish brown striped with 

 black, with well defined spots sometimes showing between 

 the stripes, especially on the legs. The tail is long and 

 ringed with black. The strong bristling whiskers are 

 white, and the hair of the body is short and lies very close 

 to the skin. 



The skins of the Bengal Tiger have a more uniform 

 value than either of the other varieties. The Himal- 

 ayan tigers are sometimes worth from two to four times 

 as much as the Bengal, and a fine Mongolian skin that is 

 large and perfect is ten times as valuable. The skins 

 of the different varieties are principally used for rugs. 

 Only a small proportion of the Bengal skins find their way 

 into the market, most of them are kept as trophies by the 

 English officers and others who secure them ; and the skins 

 of the animals killed by "shikarees" are generally sold to 

 tourists, who exhibit them to admiring friends at 

 home, as evidences of their courage and prowess. 



The Bengal Tiger rarely exceeds eleven feet in length 

 including its tail, but the skins of the Mongolian Tiger 

 sometimes measure as much as fourteen feet. 



