THE LIFE OF MAMMALS 
a small, slender, active animal of the open country of eastern 
Africa and southwestern Asia; it is uniformly bright red- 
dish fawn in color, and has no ruff, but the long 
ears are sharply penciled with black, and the rather 
long tail has a black tip. It climbs trees, of course, and its 
power of long leaping and activity are marvelous. It has 
been known to steal up to a covey of francolins (a kind of quail) 
and, at the instant of their rising, to spring into the air and knock 
down one with each paw. It is also said to hunt rabbits, etc., 
on the ground by chasing them in packs after the manner of 
wolves, and, like the jackal, to follow its betters for the ‘crumbs 
that fall from the master’s table”; but why, on that account, 
should it be called “‘lion’s provider,” as the books allege? No 
soft influences have ever brought this fierce lynx into domestica- 
tion, but for centuries Eastern princes have subdued it (by the 
hands of their shikaris) into a hunting servant resembling a 
hawk in the nature of its work. 
The foremost cat trained for sport, however, is the cheeta, or 
hunting leopard, which closes the list of the family, 
and stands separated in the genus Cynzlurus in an 
intermediate position between the cats and the dogs. Its claws 
are only partly retractile into sheaths; there are many doglike 
features in its dentition and muscles, and its habits and dis- 
position are a curious mixture of feline and canine. The 
cheeta has a tall, wolflike figure, except in its small, round 
head, very slender limbs, and thin, ‘‘tucked-up” hindquarters; 
the neck and shoulders are surmounted by a mass of lengthened 
hair; and the tail is as long as the body, and grows thicker 
to the end. ‘‘General color, fulvescent cream or bright 
nankeen, more or less deep and dotted over with numerous 
round black spots,” the face having a conspicuous black streak 
passing down from the corner of each eye, the pupils of which 
contract circularly. 
This animal inhabits all the more open parts of Africa, Arabia, 
146 
Caracal. 
Cheeta. 
