i8o 



THE CAT TRIBP:. 



The Pampas Cat {Fclis pajcros), fig. 83, 

 represents our wild cat throughout Patagonia 

 as far as the Straits of Magellan. The silver- 

 gray ground colour marked with rusty red 

 spots and stripes gives to its coat a noble and 

 somewhat distinguished appearance. On the 

 sides and neck the spots run together into 



longitudinal stripes. This beautiful cat lives 

 chiefly in the Pampas far from the forests, 

 feeds on birds and burrowing rodents, and 

 appears to have a very gentle and agreeable 

 disposition. It might, perhaps, be reared in 

 Europe. The Gauchos let it alone, for it 

 renders them good service in destroying the 



Fig 84 — The E}ri [Fths cyra 



rodents which dig out the ground underneath 

 their horses' feet and thus cause them to 

 stumble. 



As the type of the American cats with 

 longish worm-shaped body, an illustration is 

 given of the Brazilian Eyra {F. cyra), fig 84. 

 The body attains a length of rather more 

 than 18 inches, while the tail measures from 

 12 to 16 inches. With its small head and 

 long cylindrical body the eyra resemljles at 

 the first glance rather a weasel than a cat. 

 The soft silky fur has a beautiful orange- 

 yellow colour, and is without stripes or spots. 

 A larger species, the Jaguarondi(/^.yrtf^//(77'6';/rt'/), 

 with a dark grayish -brown fur, takes the 

 place of the eyra in the forests. Both species 

 almost always hunt in pairs, prefer birds to 

 mammals, do great damage in the poultry- 

 yards, but also attack lambs and animals of 

 the size of a roe-deer, are very adroit and 



wily, and are eagerly hunted by the inhabi- 

 tants. No one has ever succeeded in taming 

 either of them. 



THE LYNXES. 



fLYXX). 



The group of the lynxes (genus Lynx) is 

 distinguished from the other Felida not only 

 by their short compact body, long legs, short, 

 sometimes merely rudimentary, tail, and the 

 tufts of stiff hair on the rather large pointed 

 ears, but also by the fact of their having a 

 more highly developed carnivorous dentition. 

 The first premolar in the upper jaw in most 

 cases remains undeveloped, or if it appears, 

 it is deciduous and soon lost. The lynxes 

 accordingly have two teeth fewer than the 

 felines and hunting-leopards, and in respect 

 of this reduced dentition approach the terrible 



