THE CAT. 



an eightli ; length of tail 11 inches. The wild cat affects rocky 

 and densely wooded districts, living in holes or in hollow trees. 

 A.ecording to Mr. St. John a wild cat will sometimes take up 

 its residence at no great distance from a house, and entering 

 the hen-houses and out-buUdings carry off fowls or even lambs 

 in the most audacious manner. Like other vermin, the wild 

 cat haunts the shores of lakes and rivers, and it is therefore 

 easy to know where to lay a trap for it. Having caught and 

 killed one of the colony the rest of them are sure to be taken, 

 if the body of their slain relative be left in some place not far 

 from their usual hunting groxmd, and surrounded with traps, 

 as every wild cat who passes within a considerable distance of 

 the place will to a certainty come to it. 



The wild oat of Ireland would seem to be quite as savage a 

 fellow as his Scotch cousin. In Maxwell's "Wild Sports of 

 the West" is a stoiy of one of these animals which was killed 

 after a severe battle. It was of a dirty grey colour, double the 

 size of the common house cat, and with formidable teeth and 

 claws. It was a female, and was tracked to its burrow under 

 a rock and caught with a rabbit net. So flimsy an affair, 

 however, was scorned by the fierce brute, which speedily rent 

 a hole with its teeth and claws and was about to run off, when 

 the lad who had set the snare seized it by the neck. He was 

 a brave lad, and there was a tremendous fight, the wild oat 

 being finally dispatched by a blow of an iron spade. The 

 lad, however, was so terribly wounded as to necessitate his 

 removal to an hospital, where he for some time remained under 

 terror of look-jaw. 



The wild cat is more plentiful in the wooded districts of 

 Germany, Russia, and Hungary, than in any other parts of 

 Europe. It is found also in the north of Asia and in 

 Nepaul. 



Beside the true wild cat there are other species of FeUs who, 

 on account of their resemblance to the tiger, are called tiger- 

 cats. They are found in all parts of the world with the excep- 

 tion of Europe. The largest of this family is the Eimau-Dahan, 

 an inhabitant of Sumatra. When fall grown it measures over 

 seven feet from the nose to the tip of its tale, which append- 

 age, however, monopolizes three feet six of the whole. It is 

 nearly two feet high at the shoulders. Its colour is light 

 grey, striped and spotted with jet black. One of the first 

 specimens of this tiger cat seen in England was brought here 

 by Sir Stamford Baffles, who procured two of them from the 



