34 THE WILD VAT OF EUMOPE. 



been seen in the Grisons for many years ; and in the 

 Canton Tessin, where it was formerly plentiful, its 

 place has been taken by Domestic Cats, which have 

 become more or less wild. 



In Germany. — Professor J. H. Blasius (' Natur- 

 geschichte der kSaugethiere Deutschlands,' 1857) states 

 that the Wild Cat is to be found frequently in the 

 Hartz Mountains, and, perhaps more than anywhere 

 else, in the totally unpopulated forests of the Central 

 Carpathians. Nevertheless, he says, it wanders miles 

 away from such places, which must be considered its 

 proper home, and roams in the plains below. It is 

 also found north of the Hartz, in Westphalia, Hanover, 

 Brunswick, and in West Prussia. It prefers exten- 

 sive mountain-forests, and particularly pine-forests. 



Jeitteles (' Prodr. Faun. Vert. Hung. Super.,' 1862) 

 states that the Wild Cat is still found in Upper Hun- 

 gary, and he has known it breed with the Domestic 

 Cat. In the forests and mountains of Transylvania 

 the original species still lingers, but is getting scarcer 

 every year. 



In Italy. — The Wild Cat is becoming extremely 

 rare. G. F. Villaedi ('Fauna d' Italia,' pt. i., 1871) 

 says that the Museum at Milan possesses only two 

 specimens from Italian localities — one from the 

 mountains above the Lago Maggiore, killed in 1868, 

 and the other from the Island of Sardinia. 



In Spain. — Lord Lilford Avrites : — " In Andalucia, 

 and, I believe, in other parts of Spain, the Wild Cat 

 is numerous, and I have obtained several skins from 

 that country. In my experience in Southern Spain 

 the Cat is generally found in dense thickets in the 

 neighbourhood of marshes. The Wild Cat in Spain 

 is generally known as Gato montes, whilst Felis 



