IN CAPTIVITY IN LOWER BENGAL. 



63 



(60) THE PUMA. 

 (FELIS CONCOLOR— Linn.) 



Description. — About the size of a leopard, but slender in build. 

 Head and body about 4 feet, tail about 2 feet 4 inches. General colour 

 rufous brown, darker on the tail. Cheeks, upper lip, chin, throat 

 white; breast and under parts generally albescent. On each side of 

 the upper lip is a black mark, somewhat of a crescent shape. Lower 

 part of the tail black : colour varies in different seasons. Young pumas 

 are spotted. 



Hab, — North and South America. 



Length of life in captivity. 

 A specimen lived for about eighteen months. 



Treatment in captivity. 

 It may be housed and fed in the same manner as other carnivorous 

 animals already mentioned. 



Treatment in sickness. 

 The animal after its arrival in the garden was never perfectly 

 healthy : it suffered off and on from diarrhoea and dysentery, to which 

 it ultimately succumbed. The treatment applied was chiefly dietetic, 

 live fowls, pigeons, and even kids, being given at intervals. The 

 post-mortem examination showed ulceration of the lower part of the 

 intestines. 



Observations on the habits of a Puma. 

 Owing probably to the indifferent state of its health, it was never 

 very lively ; neither was it very good tempered. Sometimes at night 

 it uttered a shrill, piercing cry, but was generally silent. This beast 

 was found never to sleep upon the wooden platform, but preferred the 

 floor of its sleeping apartment. When this was observed to be its 

 invariable practice, a bundle of straw was given for bedding even 

 during the summer, and good use was made of it. It was muoh 

 addicted to paddling the water of its drinking vessel. 



(61) THE JAGUAR. 

 (FELIS ONCA— Linn.) 



Description. — In general appearance a jaguar resembles a leopard, 

 from which it can, however, be readily distinguished by its short and 

 massive limbs and paws, its bull-dog head and powerful jaws, and lastly 

 by its spots, which are arranged in rosettes, with a single spot within 

 each ring. The ground colour of a jaguar is generally darker than of 

 a leopard. The average size of this creature is about 4 feet from the 

 nose to the root of the tail ; tail about 2 feet ; height at the shoulder 

 from 18 inches to 2 feet. 



Hab. — America. 



Length of life in captivity. 

 A pair have been in the garden since January 1890. 



