COUSINS OF CATS 227 



he is everywhere called. They all have four toes on 

 the hind feet and five on the front, and their tongues 

 are covered with backward-pointed prickles." 



" There are long-tailed Wildcats in our woods ! 

 Rod says so, and I saw them, for they come down to 

 the barnyard to get swill, and they took some of the 

 squabs from the pigeon house," said Nat. " They are 

 dark brown and black striped, and have fat, bunchy 

 cheeks, and crawl low down in the grass, as if they tried 

 to hide." 



"You are both right and wrong," laughed Doctor Roy. 

 "These cats are wild in one sense, because they live in 

 the woods, hunt for a living, and are fierce and shy ; but 

 they are the children of tame house or barn cats and 

 no more like the real Lynx rufus, than we should be 

 like Indians if we went to the woods, dressed in moc- 

 casins and blankets, and painted our faces. 



" In speaking of the Rabbits, I think I told you how 

 much help the length and shape of their tails give in 

 naming them." 



" Yes, I remember," said Rap ; " the Jack had the 

 longest tail, and the Wood Hare a turned-up cotton 

 tail, and the Pika not much of a tail at all." 



" It is the same with mem'bers of the cat family. 

 The tail will give you a clew to the family, for as all 

 these North American Cats are more prone to run aAvay 

 than to face you, the tail will be more familiar than the 

 face, so if you see a Wildcat with a bobtail, you will 

 know him for the real kind. 



" Having chosen three from this group of ten cats, 

 let us look at them. Two of the three — the Puma and 

 Wildcat — once ranged over a considerable part of the 



