INTRODUCTION. 



The Wild Cat {Felis catus, Linn.) is a member of 

 the smaller race of the Feline family which, with 

 the exception of the West Indies and the Australian 

 region*, is generally distributed throughout the 

 World. 



Messrs. Flower and Lydekker, in their ' Intro- 

 duction to the Study of Animals,' remark, that " not- 

 withstanding the considerable diversity in external 

 appearance and size between different members of 

 this extensive genus, the structural differences are 

 but slight and so variously combined in different 

 species that the numerous attempts hitherto made 

 to subdivide it are all unsatisfactory and artificial," 

 Among the principal differences they mention the 

 form of the cranium, the length of the tail, the shape 

 of the pupil of the eye, and the condition and 

 coloration of the fur. 



In the smaller race of Cats the pupils of the eyes 

 are, as a rule, of an oval form and contract when 

 exposed to a bright light, or when excited by anger, 

 to an oat-shaped oval or to a vertical linear slit. 



* Wild Cats, the offspring of Domestic Cats wMoh have taken to 

 a feral life, are now, we believe, prevalent in New Zealand and 

 probably also on the Australian continent. 



