MALAYAN LEOPARD CATS 
interesting chapter on the ounce, and relates how a fine old snow leopard, 
believed to be the mother of a cub which he captured but did not succeed 
in saving, was killed by one of the party of Tibetans in a curious and unex- 
pected way. It was seen at a little distance, basking on a ledge of rock 
at the mouth of its den, and apparently asleep, when the Tibetan, looking 
over upon it from above, dropped a large stone with such precision that it 
struck the sleeping animal in the middle of the back and broke its spine.” 
Still farther from the true leopard in markings, though 
approaching it in size, is the clouded leopard, or “‘tree tiger” 
of the Malays, found from Bhutan down through Assam, 
Burma, and the Malay Peninsula to Borneo and Formosa. It 
is nowhere numerous, and passes the whole of its Gpoudea 
time in trees, sleeping there by hanging acrossa thick Leopard. 
crotch, and catching birds, monkeys, and other small animals 
for food. It lingers about villages and raids the native poultry, 
but otherwise is regarded as harmless, despite the fact that its 
canines are longer and sharper than those of any other cat. 
Captive specimens are usually gentle and playful, twisting and 
turning somersaults about their cages like huge squirrels. 
Its beautiful buffy coat is thickly spotted and streaked with 
black, often running into long, irregular, winding patches. 
Almost exact miniatures of it are the marbled cat of the same 
region and the Tibetan cat; and here, too, should be mentioned 
the golden cat, the fishing cat, and the leopard cat. 
The first-named is probably the handsomest cat in existence — a pale, 
golden chestnut in color, becoming bay along the back; the throat and 
under parts are white, while the face is strikingly ornamented —_ Golden 
with stripes of black, white, and orange. It is known in all Cat. 
the eastern Himalaya, and thence down the mountain ranges of the Malay 
Peninsula; and it is believed that from it has been derived that most ex- 
traordinary of domestic cats, — the Siamese, formerly reserved for royal 
laps and cushions alone, and still uncommon and precious. It is uniformly 
tawny in color, with dark muzzle, under parts and limbs, and has short 
legs and blue eyes. The flat-headed cat (Felis planiceps) is another 
Malayan species of uniform coloration, which may have had a share in 
the ancestry of these favored pets. 
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