XX mTRODUCTION. 



Dr. G. Lindsay Johnson, I. c, states that " In the 

 Lion, Tiger, Puma, and Leopard, in fact in all the 

 large Felidae, the pupil is invariably round, and as a 

 rule retains its circular shape when contracting, thus 

 forming a decided contrast to the smaller Felidae." 



The different species of the larger race never 

 interbreed with each other. There is no record of 

 any hybrid having ever been found in a wild state, 

 which certainly would have been the case with our 

 present knowledge had such existed. 



A few instances have been recorded of a Lion 

 and a Tigress interbreeding in captivity ; and Sir W. 

 Jardine gives the figure of a hybrid between these two 

 animals in vol. ii. of ' The Naturalist's Library ' ; and 

 another instance is recorded from the same menagerie 

 (Mr. Aitken's) of hybrids between an Asiatic Lion 

 bred in this country and a Tigress, being born at 

 Windsor. The cubs all died before arriving at 

 maturity *. 



The chief food of the "Wild Cat is the flesh of the 

 smaller Mammalia and birds — Hares, Rabbits, the 

 diff"erent species of Voles, Squirrels, Eats, Moles, &c., 

 the Game-birds, Pigeons, and the smaller birds. 



Mr. Heneage Cocks writes that the Wild Cats 

 he kept in confinement for a number of years were 



* la Allen's ' Naturalist's Library,' 1895, which appears to be a 

 reprint "with additions of Sir W. Jardine's ' Naturalist's Library,' it is 

 stated that six litters of hybrids were produced in Mr. Aitken's 

 menagerie between 1824 and 1833. One male, it is stated, lived 

 for ten years in the Liverpool Zoological Gardens. 



