116 POPULAR OFFICIAL GUIDE. 



The Puma, (Felis cancolor), is described in the section 

 relating to the Lion House, where other Pumas are exhib- 

 ited (page 78). 



Of the Lynxes, we have two well-defined species, and 

 one subspecies. The Canada Lynx, {Lynx canadensis), is 

 well represented in the southern compartment of the Puma 

 House, where a fine adult pair has become acclimatized. 

 This is the Loup Cervicr of the French Canadians, and it is 

 truly the Lynx of Canada and the subarctic North. It has 

 no spots on its body, and its pelage is a cold pepper-and- 

 salt gray color. Its fee,t are large and heavily furred, and 

 it has a long, black hair-pencil on the tip of each ear. A 

 large specimen stands 18 inches high, and weighs 22 pounds. 

 The food of the American Lynxes generally consists of hares 

 and rabbits, ground birds of all kinds, and anything else 

 that can be caught and killed, except porcupine. To man 

 they are not "dangerous animals." 



THE BURROWING MAMMALS, AND OTHERS, No. 42. 



North America is wonderfully rich in species of gnawing 

 animals, and the end is not yet. The investigations of our 

 mammalogists are adding new species with a degree of 

 rapidity and parallelism that is fairly bewildering. 



It is the duty of the Zoological Society to do its utmost 

 to increase as much as possible the sum total of knowledge 

 of our largest Order of Mammals. Manifestly, however, it 

 is impracticable to do more than place before visitors a rea- 

 sonable number of well-chosen types, which shall represent 

 as many as possible of the twelve Families, and also the 

 genera most worth knowing. 



The most serious obstacle in the way of anyone who at- 

 tempts to exhibit collections of living rodents lies in the 

 natural propensity of so many species to keep out of sight 

 during the daytime. This is particularly true of the mem- 

 bers of the Mouse, Pocket Gopher, and Pouched Rat Fami- 

 lies, comprising about three hundred species in all. With 

 very few exceptions, the whole matter of the exhibition 

 of collections of living rodents is something new, and every 

 step is an experiment. In the belief that even the most shy 

 burrowing animals will appreciate abundant room, perfectly 

 natural surroundings, plenty of food, and immunity from 

 annoyance, and eventually fall into the habit of spending 

 many of the daylight hours above ground, as do prairie- 



