750 A Monograph of the Species of Lynx. [No. 128. 



and it appears to extend throughout the corresponding latitudes 

 of the whole eastern continent, spreading perhaps to the southward in 

 Siberia, and along the forests of the Ural. It is doubtless the species 

 common in Kamtschatka, and it takes a wide range on the western 

 coast of North America, as the Zoological Society possess a specimen 

 from California. In the United States, it appears to be only known 

 as a very rare straggler ; and the only recorded instance which I 

 know of its occurrence within the northern territory of the Union 

 is published in Silliman's ' Journal' for 1837, p. 194, where a specimen 

 is mentioned to have been tracked and shot, at Southington, Connecticut. 

 Its weight was thirty-two lbs. and length nearly three feet ; the tail 

 about four inches. " Though not entirely agreeing with Dr. Richardson's 

 description", remarks the writer, " it was probably F. borealis" . There 

 is no other known species which it could have been. Hearne remarks, that 

 " it is very rare to the North of Churchill [on the barren-grounds ?~\ , 

 but is there exactly the same as those found to the South-west. They 

 never approach near the settlement of Hudson's Bay, and are very 

 destructive to Rabbits [small American Hares] , seldom leaving a place 

 which is frequented by them till they have killed nearly all." — " It is 

 the only species of the genus," remarks Dr. Richardson, " which ex- 

 tends north of the Great Lakes, and eastward of the Rocky Mountains. 

 It is rare on the sea-coast, and does not frequent the barren-grounds, 

 but it is not uncommon in the wooded districts of the interior, since from 

 7,000 to 9,000 skins are annually procured by the Hudson's Bay 

 Company. It is found on the Mackenzie River, as far north as 

 latitude 66°. The early French writers on Canada, who ascribed to 

 it the habit of dropping from trees on the backs of Deer [which 

 Brickell and Catesby likewise assert of the Bay Lynx, being further 

 rendered probable by the known sanguivorous propensity of the ordinary 

 European species,] gave it the name of Loup Cervier ; but the French 

 Canadians now term it indifferently le Chat or le Pechoo". 



Dr. Richardson further relates, combining the descriptions of Hearne 

 and Dr. Godman with his personal observation, that this Lynx " is a 

 timid creature, incapable of attacking any of the larger quadrupeds, 

 but well armed for the capture of the American Hare, on which it 

 chiefly preys. Its large paws, slender loins, and long but thick hind 

 legs, give it an awkward clumsy appearance. It makes a poor fight 



