70 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 



The Clouded} This animal belongs to Sumatra where it lives 

 Tiger. upon the forest birds. Like the Ocelot it is 

 exceedingly playful when tame, seeking the notice and return- 

 ing the caresses of all who encourage it. 

 The servaL " The Serval," says Captain Brown, " is somewhat 

 larger than the ordinary wild cat. Its general colour is a 

 pale fulvous yellow. It resides on trees, where it makes a 

 bed, and breeds its young. It seldom appears on the ground, 

 living principally on birds, squirrels, and small animals; it is 

 extremely agile, and leaps, with great rapidity, from one branch 

 to another. The serval never assaults man, but rather endea- 

 vours to avoid him; if, however, it is compelled to attack, 

 it darts furiously on its antagonist, and bites and tears, like 

 the rest of the cat kind." 



The Commou The common wild cat is one of the few wild 

 Wild Oat. animals still to be found in the British Isles. Up 

 till recent years these cats were observed among the woody 

 mountainous districts of Cumberland and Westmoreland and in 

 the wild parts of Scotland and Ireland, though as the land 

 is brought more and more under cultivation they decrease 

 in numbers, failing suitable asylum. They abound in the 

 forests of Germany and Russia, where they live in the hollows 

 of trees and caves of rocks, and feed on birds, squirrels, 

 hares and rabbits, and will even attack yoxmg lambs and fawns. 

 The wild cat is not to be confused with the domestic cat 

 which has relapsed into a wild state. "In the form and 

 shape of the tail," says Sir William Jardine, "this animal 

 somewhat resembles the Lynx. The fur is very thick, woolly 

 and long. The general colour is a greyish yellow, in some 

 specimens inclining much to a shade of bluish grey." — "They 

 spring,'' says Mrs. Bowdich, " furiously upon whoever approaches, 

 and utter unearthly cries. Mr. St. John, when walking up to 

 his knees in heather over broken ground, came suddenly 

 upon a wild cat. She rushed out between his legs, every 

 hair standing up. He cut a good-sized stick; and three Skye 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



