IN CAPTIVITY IN LOWER BENGAL. 61 



Food. — A caracal should be fed on live fowls, pigeons, rabbits, fyc. ; 

 beef should be avoided as much as possible. 



Transport. — May be treated like any other large cat. 



Treatment in sickness. 



Diarrhoea and dysentery are the principal diseases from which 

 these animals have been observed to suffer. They rarely recover. 



Observations on their habits. 



Some specimens have been found to be tame enough to allow them- 

 selves to be stroked, but most of them snarl and spit on the approach 

 of men. They are in the habit of constantly pacing their cages, whether 

 tame or wild. Unlike many other cats, a caracal does not appear to 

 become lively towards evening ; in fact they have on several occasions 

 been observed to sleep at night while other cats were awake and lively. 



(59) THE LYNX. 



(FELIS LYNX— Linn.) 



Description. — A very heavily built cat. Head and body about 

 33 inches, tail about 7 ; height at the shoulder about 18. The tufts 

 of hair at the end of each ear are long, pointed and black. A ruff 

 is formed by the long hair of the hinder part of the cheeks. Fur 

 soft and woolly. Limbs powerful and paws massive. The colour of 

 the animal varies from isabelline grey to rufous fawn : the flanks and 

 limbs are marked with faint brown spots. In the specimen which 

 lived in the garden the summer coat was short and smooth, and the 

 ruff and the ear tufts were not conspicuous ; during the winter the coat 

 changed considerably, the hair becoming longer, softer and very dense 

 and paler in colour ; the ruff and the ear tufts were also very conspicuous 

 in winter. The terminal half of the tail black. In European speci- 

 mens, known as the red lynx, the colour is generally brownish red with 

 distinct black spots at certain seasons of the year. 



Hab. — Upper Indus Valley, Grilgit, Ladak, Thibet, throughout 

 Asia north of the Himalayas, and Europe north of the Alps. 



Length of life in captivity. 



A specimen lived in the collection from January 1878 to February 

 1884. This, however, does not represent the maximum length of its 

 life in captivity, as the animal was sent away while still in the 

 enjoyment of health and vigor. 



Treatment in health. 



Housing. — During two years it remained under private treatment, 

 was tied up in the shade, and never allowed into the sun. The success 

 which attended the rearing of this animal was attributed to this 

 precaution, as the animal was an inhabitant of a very cold region. At 

 night it slept in the stable. It was bathed every morning with soap 



