172 



TH1-: CAT TKIBK. 



but in the tenth century of our era the do- ! formed various races, but since the cat has 



mestic cat was stih so rare, that it was re- 

 garded in h^ngland as an animal of great 

 value, with regard to which the laws named 

 certain defects which made a sale invalid, just 

 as at v^resent in the case of horses. Man has 



always preserved a certain independence in 

 the gratification of its sexual instincts, these 

 races are much less numerous and less diver- 

 f^ent from one another than those of other 

 domestic animals. 



Tig 77 — The OIo\lJ or I Uljw Cat I i i lu il \ i^ 171 



The Wild Cat {Fciis catus), fig. 78, of our | of concealment and betakes itselt to its soli- 



tary hunt. It is onl) during the season of 

 heat that a pair may sometimes be seen to- 

 gether. This season passed, the sexes hunt 

 separately. All the hair-clad and feathered 

 denizens of the woods, from the young roe- 

 deer to the mouse, from the eaglet to the 

 thrush and wren, Ijecome the prey of this 

 fierce hunter, who combines strength with 

 agility, boldness with cunning. The wild 

 cat is a tiger on a small scale. It approaches 

 noiselessl)-, makes a great spring to seize its 

 \-ictim, but does not pursue, and always turns 

 back ashamed when it has missed its aim. 

 It knows very well the habitual resorts of its 

 game, where to lie in wait, and patiently ex- 

 pect the hare as it comes from the wood to 

 in the deserted hole of the fox or badger. I pay a visit to a neighbouring field. 1 have 

 On the a])proach ol niglit it leaves its place ; myself shot in the Odenwald a wild tom-cat 



part of the world is much larger and stronger 

 than the domestic cat. The head is relatively 

 thicker and larger, the body more powerful, 

 the tail shorter, the fur thicker, the teeth 

 sharper. The fur has a grayish-yellow ground 

 with black stripes, which are specially well 

 marked on the head, back, sides, and very 

 bushy tail. The legs are short, the jjaws 

 very strong and broad. 



It is essentially a Eurojjean animal, which 

 scarcely crosses the Caucasus, but is found 

 everywhere in dense forests as far as the 

 limit of trees. Decidedly nocturnal in its 

 habits it spends the day in holes in trees or 

 hidden among the foliage in tree-tops, some- 

 times in clefts amono; the rocks, often even 



