II THE FATHER OF GAME 35 



of the jaguar is adorned everywhere with black 

 spots, the adult puma has no spots whatever, ex- 

 cept that the lips are black, with a patch of white 

 on each side of the muzzle, the outer rim of the 

 ear is black, and sometimes the tip of the tail. Its 

 upper parts are a uniform pale fox-red, more or 

 less dull in certain lights, owing to the fact that 

 each hair is fawn gray, red only at the tip ; this 

 color is more intense along the spine and decidedly 

 lighter around the eyes, while the throat, belly, 

 and inside of the legs are reddish white. The 

 color is so much like that of the Virginia deer 

 that their backs could hardly be distinguished at 

 a little distance — in fact, precisely this mistake 

 has been made by astonished hunters; and on the 

 Amazons the puma is called "false deer." How 

 helpful such a resemblance would prove to this 

 wily beast, when stealing through the grass upon 

 a herd of deer or any other prey that would have 

 no reason to be alarmed by the known presence of 

 what it took to be a deer, is at once evident. 



The common term " American lion " goes back 

 to the earliest days of European discovery on this 

 continent, when the colonists supposed the hides 

 the Indians brought in were those of the true 

 lion, explaining the absence of maned examples 

 by the theory that they had seen only female 

 skins. "California lion," and "mountain lion," 

 "red tiger," "panther" (or "painter"), are less 

 excusable misnomers. " Puma " is said to be 



