222 FELID^E. 



entirely restricted to Scotland, some of the woods in the 

 north of England, the woody mountains of Wales, and 

 some parts of Ireland. Their favourite places of resort 

 are the most inaccessible mountainous woods, where they 

 retreat not only to hollow trees, or the depth of thickets, 

 but to concealed fissures of rocks, in which they seek their 

 safety and repose, and bring forth and rear their young. 



In stating the localities and estimating the numbers of 

 this species, it is necessary to guard against confounding 

 with it the numerous instances of escaped Domestic 

 Cats, returning to a state of almost absolute wildness, 

 breeding in the woods, and feeding on birds and small 

 quadrupeds. These, though far less powerful than the 

 true Wild Cat, are very destructive to game of every 

 description ; and, still retaining some traces of their old 

 domesticity, they often revisit the farmyard, and carry 

 off the poultry. 



The question whether the Domestic Cat is originally 

 derived from this species or not has long been a disputed 

 one. On the one hand, it must be confessed that it is 

 impossible to point out any structural differences of 

 importance between the animals, for Blasius's cranical 

 characters {Saugeth. Deutschl., pp. 160, 161,) prove not to 

 be constant when a large series of skulls are compared. 

 But it seems strange that the characteristic cylindrical and 

 truncated tail of F. catus should never reappear in any of 

 the domestic breeds. Many writers have favoured the idea 

 that our tame Cats are descended from the Nubian F. 

 maniculata, but we are not aware that a careful anatomical 

 comparison has ever been made. On the whole, we must 

 regard the origin of the Domestic Cat as being still an open 

 question. 



The disappearance of the Wild Cat from the districts 

 where it was once so common, is not to be attributed ex- 



