CARNIVORA. 585 



any valid species of Lions have as yet been established. The 

 Lions are all nocturnal, and capture their prey by suddenly 

 leaping upon it. They are by no means the generous and 

 courageous animals they are generally considered to be ; but, 

 on the contrary, are cruel, cunning, and cowardly. They are 

 enormously strong, and it is said that a full-grown Lion can 

 run, and even leap, though carrying an ox in its jaws. Though 

 now much restricted in its range, the Lion had formerly a much 

 more extensive distribution, a form considerably larger than 

 the modem species having formerly existed in Europe, and 

 even in Britain {Felis spelcea). 



In the tigers (Felis tigris), the tail is without a tuft of hairs 

 at its extremity, and the skin is marked with stripes or spots. 

 The Royal or Bengal Tiger is a native of southern Asia, but 

 occurs also in Java and Sumatra. The skin is reddish yellow, 

 marked with numerous transverse black stripes. It is a large 

 and powerful animal, and, upon the whole, is probably a more 

 dangerous opponent than even the Lion. 



Of the large Spotted Cats, the largest is the Jaguar {Felis 

 onca) which inhabits South America and the southern parts of 

 North America. It is a very large and powerful animal, said 

 to be able to carry a bullock without difficulty, and it can both 

 swim and climb with great facility. Another American species 

 is the Puma {Felis concolor), in which the colour is uniformly 

 reddish brown. It is exclusively confined to America, and 

 though of large size (nine feet in length, including the tail), it 

 is a very cowardly species, and is seldom or never known to 

 attack man. 



The Leopard {Felis leopardus) is another well-known species, 

 smaller than the Tiger, and marked with black spots in place 

 of stripes. It is a native of all the warmer parts of the Old 

 World. 



The Panther is probably merely a variety of the Leopard, 

 and the Ounce {Felis tmcid) is generally beUeved to be only 

 its immature form. Another allied form is the Cheetah or 

 Hunting Leopard {Felis jubata), of southern Asia and Africa. 



Of the smaller Felidm, the best known are the Lynxes and 

 the Cats, properly so called. Of these the Lynxes are distin- 

 guished by their short tails, and by the fact that the ears are 

 furnished with a pencil of hairs. The best-known species are 

 the European Lynx {Felis lyncus), the Caracal {F. caracal) of 

 southern Asia and Africa, and the Canadian Lynx {F. Cana- 

 densis) of North America. In the true Cats {Felis cattis), the 

 tail is long, and the ears are not tufted. The Wild Cat formerly 

 existed in Britain, but is now extinct, though it still occurs in 



