58 



The Living Animals of the World 



looking almost as large as a small leopard. On the floor was one dead fowl. The impudent 

 jungle-cat rushed for the door, but had the coolness to seize the hen as it passed, and with 

 this in its mouth rushed past the owner of the hens, his servants and retainers, and reached 

 a piece of thick scrub near with its prize. 



As the chaus is common both in India and Africa, a comparison of its habits in both 

 continents is somewhat interesting. Jerdon, the Indian naturalist, writes: "It is the common 

 wild cat from the Himalaya to Cape Comorin, and from the level of the sea to 7,000 or 8,000 

 feet elevation. It frequents alike the jungles and the open country, and is very partial to long 

 reeds, and grass, sugarcane-fields, and corn-fields. It does much damage to all game, especially 

 to hares and partridges. Quite recently I shot a pea-fowl at the edge of a sugarcane-field. 

 One of these cats sprang out, seized the pea-fowl, and after a short struggle — for the bird was 

 not quite dead— carried it off before my astonished eyes, and, in spite of my running up, made 

 his escape with his booty. It must have been stalking these very birds, so closely did its spring 

 follow my shot. It is said to breed twice a year, and to have three or four young at a birth. I 

 have very often had the young brought to me, but always failed in rearing them ; and they always 

 showed a savage and untamalile disposition. I have seen numlDers of cats about villages in 

 various parts of the country that must have been hybrids between this cat and the tame ones." 

 The late Sir Oliver St. John was more fortunate with his jungle-cat kittens. He obtained 

 three in Persia. These he reared till they were three months old, by which time they became 

 so tame that they would climb on to his knees at breakfast-time, and behave like ordinary 

 kittens. One was killed by a greyhound, and another by a scorpion— a curious fate for a kitten 

 to meet. The survivor then became morose and ill-tempered, but grew to be a large and strong 

 animal. "Two English bull-terriers of mine, which would make short work of the largest 

 domestic cat, could do nothing against my wild cat," says the same writer. "In their almost 

 daily battles the dogs always got the worst of it." 



In Africa the chaus haunts the thick co\-er bordering the ri\ers. There it catches not 

 only water-fowl, but also fish. According to jMessrs. IN'icolls and Eglington, " its spoor 

 may constantly be seen im^jrinted on the mud surrounding such pools in the periodical 

 watercourses as are constantly being dried up, and in which fish may probably be imprisoned 

 without chance of escape." The chaus has for neighbour in Africa the beautiful Seuval, a 

 larger wild cat. This species is reddish in colour, spotted on the body, and striped on the 

 legs. The ears are long, but not tufted, like those of the lynx. The serval is more common 

 in North and Central Africa than in the South. But it is also found south of the I'ropic of 

 Capricorn. Messrs. IN'icolls and Eglington say of it : " Northward through South Central Africa it 



_^^^„..,,^,. is fairly common. It frequents the thick 



bush in the vicinity of rivers. The 

 karo-sses, or mantles, made from its 

 skins are only worn by the chiefs and 

 very high dignitaries amongst the native 

 tribes, and are in consequence eagerly 

 sought after, on which account the 

 species runs a risk of rapid extermi- 

 nation. Its usual prey consists of 

 the young of the smaller antelopes, 

 francolins, and wild guinea-fowls, to 

 the latter of which it is a most 

 destructive enemy in the breeding- 

 season. When obtained young, the 

 serval can be tamed with little trouble; 

 Fi,otoh;,L.ii,:,na.,,i,P.z.s.] [North FincMaj. but it is difficult to rear, aud always 



SEEVAL, shows a singular and almost unaccount- 



TUb id a spotted cat, ivUli long ears, Ijut DO tufts on them, as in the true lynxes. able aVCrsioU tO black men. ItS 



