THE CAT TRIBE 47 
largest Indian tiger-skin, from one killed by the Maharaja of Cuch Behar, measures II 
feet 7 inches. 
LEOPARDS 
Less in size, but even more ferocious, the Lzoparp has a worse character than the tiger. 
Living mainly in trees, and very nocturnal, this fierce and dangerous beast is less often seen than 
far rarer animals. It is widely spread over the world, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Atlas 
Mountains, and from Southern China to the Black Sea, where it is sometimes met with in the 
Caucasus. There seems to be no legend of its presence in Greece, Italy, or Spain; but it was 
quite common in Asia Minor; and Cicero, when governor of Cilicia, was plagued by an aristo- 
cratic young friend in Rome to send him leopards to exhibit in a féte he was giving. 
Any one who has frequented the Zoo for any time must have noticed the difference in size 
and colour between leopards from different parts of the world. Onsome the ground-colour is 
almost white, in others a clear nut-brown. Others are jet-black. Wherever they live, they are 
cattle thieves, sheep thieves, and dog thieves. Though not formidable in appearance, they are 
immensely strong. Sometimes one will turn man-eater. Both in India and lately in Africa cases 
have been known where they have “set up” in this line as deliberately as any tiger. They have 
four or five young at a birth, which may often be kept tame for some time and are amusing pets. 
But the following plain story shows the danger of such experiments. At Hongkong an English 
merchant had a tame leopard, which was brought into the room by a coolie for the guests to see 
at a dinner party. Excited by the smell of food, it refused to go out when one of the ladies, 
who did not like its looks, wished for it to be removed. The man took hold of its collar and 
began to haul it out. It seized him by the neck, bit it through, and in a minute the coolie was 
dying, covered with blood, on the dining-room floor ! 
The Chinese leopard ranges as far north as the Siberian tiger, and, like the latter, seems 
to grow larger the farther north it is found. The colour of these northern leopards is very 
Photo by C, Reid] [Wishaw, N. B. 
A YOUNG LEOPARD 
The leopard cub is far more cat-like in appearance than the young tiger or licn 
