NOT FOUNB IN IMELAND. 27 



THE WILD CAT NOT INDIGENOUS TO IRELAND (?)*- 



The Wild Cat [F. catus) is not indigenous to Ire- 

 land, although it is stated by many naturalists who 

 have written on the subject that it is found in the 

 mountainous districts of that country. Sir W. Jar- 

 dine, for instance, states, in the ' Naturalist's Library,' 

 vol. ii. Felinse, that it abounds in Ireland in similar 

 situations as in England and Scotland ; and Bell, in 

 both editions (1837 and 1874) of 'British Quadrupeds,' 

 says : " The woody mountains of Wales and some 

 parts of Ireland." Much later writers have continued 

 to propagate this error. 



The late Mr. Thompson, in his ' Natural History of 

 Ireland,' says : — " The Wild Cat {Felis catus) cannot 

 with certainty be given as a native animal." Thomp- 

 son appears to have thoroughly investigated the 

 matter, and his opinion is of great importance. He 

 says the largest Cat he ever saw, Avhich weighed 

 10 lb. 9 oz., was shot in a wild state at Shanes Castle ; 

 this specimen was Felis catus in everything but the 

 form of the tail, which was not bushy at the end, and 

 the fur, which was finer in texture. In the ' Lame 

 Journal,' Feb. 1839, it was reported that the Wild 

 Cat was found in TuUamore Park, and also used to 

 frequent the shores of Ballintrae ; "but on question- 

 ing Mr. Creighton, Lord Eoden's gamekeeper, he 

 informed me that he had never seen this species in 

 Ireland." He was able to compare this Cat with two 

 Wild Cats which had been brought to him in the 



* The greater portion of the following remarks and letters on 

 the Wild Cat in Ireland is taken from a paper read hy the author 

 at a meeting of the Zoological Society, and published in the 

 ' Proceedings ' of that Society for 1885. 



