RECORDS ON THE CONTINENT. 33 



In the Oxford Museum there is a specimen of a 

 Wild Cat shot in the Ardennes by Leopold I., King 

 of the Belgians, and presented by him in February 

 1864:. It is of a light grey colour, and with much 

 white about the throat and neck and on the fore legs ; 

 it is evidently the offspring of Domestic Cats run 

 wild, probably of the third or fourth generation. 



M. Alpi-ionse de la. Fontaine (' Faune du Pays de 

 Luxembourg,' 1862) mentions the Ardennes as its 

 habitat, and other localities, as the Canton d'Echter- 

 nach, the Forest of Grevenmacher, and the rocks of 

 Manternach. 



In Switzp:rland. — ^The Wild Cat is, or was, still to 

 be found in some of the Cantons. Gesner, writing 

 in 1551 (' Hist. Anim.'), says that Felis sylvestris is 

 to be found in considerable numbers amongst the 

 forests and mountains, and is fond of frequenting 

 small brakes in proximity to water. 



Le Frere Ogerien (' Histoire Nat. du Jura, Zoolog. 

 viv.,' 1863) states that the Wild Cat, happily becoming 

 more rare, inhabits the forests of La Serre, Le Chaux, 

 and the environs of Clairvaux ; examples having been 

 killed almost every year. 



T. G. Bonnet (' The Alpine Eegions of Switzerland 

 and neighbouring Countries,' 1868) says that the 

 Wild Cat still lingers in the most unfrequented parts 

 of Switzerland, being commonest in the Alps of 

 Glarus and in the forests of the Canton Bale. 



Victor Fatio (' Faune des Vertebres de la Suisse,' 

 1869) says that the true Wild Cat is not at all 

 common, but that it exists in the forests in the 

 centre of Switzerland, in the Cantons of Berne, 

 Lucerne, Unterwald, Schwyz, and Glarus, also in the 

 Chain of the Jura from Geneva to Bale. It has not 



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